Oyu No Ranma
by Zorknot
Summary: Ranma gets himself stuck as a girl early on. Now she's got completely new problems. In ch. 16, Akane manages to cook something edible, Ryoga becomes a witch's familiar, and Ranma almost quits his her job…again.
1. Furo Fugue

Oyu No Ranma

(Hot Water Ranma)

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by Zorknot

ihsahakaT okimuR ot gnoleb sretcarahc esehT :**REMIALCSID**

**NOTE (5/28/11) **I should mention that this fic started out as an experiment with tense and perspective. Scenes that occur in hot water are in present tense, and the point of view is always from someone with a Jusenkyo curse. There is a narrative reason for this, although it's thin. Basically the fic gets a bit more conventional as you go and the writing does get a little better as well, I think. It's a fun ride overall. Enjoy!

~~~~~Ch.1 Furo Fugue~~~~~

Ranma lowers herself into the water of the furo, triggering the change. Male once again, and taking a hot, relaxing bath, he can almost believe he is in a hotel somewhere and that the nightmare that had been his life has never happened. Almost. The problem is, he can't remember when he had ever been in a hotel at all, much less one expensive enough to provide a furo.

Ranma sighs. He is not in a hotel. He is in the home of the Tendos, about to get engaged to someone he hardly even knows, he will go beserk if he sees a cat,

if he ever undoes his pig tail in male form his hair will grow at a monstrous rate, his female form has to constantly avoid being killed by a crazed Chinese Amazon named after a hair care product, and topping it all off there is the curse itself. The nightmare is not over.

Still, he takes this moment of peace for what it is and relaxes.

I'm Akane. Do you wanna be friends? YES! He hadn't had a real friend, his age since Ucchan. That was so long ago and it was only for about a year then...

Which would you rather have, Ranma, Ukyo or okonomiyaki? He was very young at the time... and hungry, but he still hates himself for choosing okonomiyaki. If he knew that he would never see his friend again... but then maybe it wouldn't have mattered. He came to the realization through the years he spent on the "training trip" that his father is a weak-minded coward who gives Ranma's feelings little consideration. If he chose Ukyo the situation probably wouldn't have changed. His father wasn't always bad though, Ranma remembers...

~~~~[FB]~~~~

Ranma and his father are bathing in a hot spring near Jusenkyo. It is the morning after a heavy rain, and everything smells sweet and fresh. Everything that is, except for Ranma and his father.

They are filthy from running through mud, bramble, and the occasional fruit stand. Onna-Ranma chased her panda father through forrest and town in the rain seeking vengeance for her lost manhood, which, for all she knew at the time, was lost, forever. When she finally caught him in town near a fish stand, she gave him a sound beating, knocking the panda out, but she did no more. He was still her father, and it wasn't like she could kill him or anything. Onna-Ranma stood over the body of her once-human father for a few moments, not sure of what to do. Then she turned around saying, "I guess I better talk to that guide an' see if there's some sorta cure..." Her actions were halted however by a lack of consciousness due to the collision of a very large fish with her head.

When she came to, she was being carried back to the guide's home by the panda that had wielded the fish. Once they got back, the guide explained how the curse worked and changed them both to their normal forms. It was late by then and they were both tired, but the guide wouldn't let them sleep in his shack explaining, "Sirs are too too smelly to sleep here! This one not sleep himself if sirs inside!" So they went outside and set up their tent. Of course, it was still raining so they ended up sleeping in their cursed forms. Which made for a rather rude awakening when the guide tapped on the tent flap in the twilight hour before sunrise.

"Sirs wake up now, yes?"

"!"

"GRRRRRRROOOOooooooowwwwwwwf!"

Once they had calmed down again the guide told them about a hot spring nearby where they could get clean. Ranma and Genma eyed the guide suspiciously. "Did anything drown there that we should know about?" Ranma asked.

The guide looked confused for a moment the smiled goofily and laughed. "Oh sir! You make too too funny joke, yes? That one no have tragic story. No you worry." The guide told them how to get to the hot spring and they left as he called out to them: "Sirs no take too long or else miss breakfast. And if sirs find pig, this one make too delicious Cantonese style sweet and sour pork for you!"

So now Ranma and his father are in the hot spring relaxing as much as they can. They don't get many chances for a hot bath. "Ahhh, it's good to be human!" Genma sighs

"It's good to be a MAN!" Ranma agrees.

Genma shudders, "I never wanted any of this to happen, boy. It was a training ground. It was forbidden. I thought that it meant it was only for the toughest martial artists." He looks to the east where diffused sunlight is starting to show through the trees.

Ranma follows his fathers gaze and is silent for awhile admiring the subtle beauty of the scene. He notices then that his father's gaze is grim and worried. "Yeah, well I already got you back for that once. Just don't do anything else stupid `kay?" Ranma starts to seriously wash himself muttering "A martial artist's life is fraught with peril."

"Indeed it is" Genma replies. "That's it, boy! We must look at this as training!"

"How can bein' a girl be training?"

"You'll become adept at avoiding water-type attacks!" Genma frowns for a moment realizing perhaps that he is being stupid. "Listen, boy, we got to make the most of this. Learn from it. Find out how to use it against an enemy."

"Hmph, easy for you to say, Pandaman. You could probably scare someone off or knock `em over with your heavier body, what could I do? Flash them?"

"Yes... such a distraction WOULD be useful in battle..."

"NANI?"

"... I also noticed that you caught up to me very quickly. Your speed must be greater in your cursed form."

"Yeah, I guess I noticed that too..." They continue comparing notes on their curses for a while and soon they are reminiscing on past battles. For a moment, they aren't just father and son. They are comrades discussing old wars. They are fellow masters discussing battle strategies. They are, for a moment, friends.

Then the sun peeks over the tops of the trees hitting Genma's cheek. Suddenly his eyes go wide and he leaps out of the water and into the woods, not bothering to dry himself or to put clothes on. He bounds away, the cold wind causing him to change, and he continues to run through the woods. Ranma stares after the panda for a moment, then gets out of the spring himself grabbing the top of his gi and his belt as he runs. He can't dry off without losing too much time, so with a grimace, Ranma jumps after his father as He too changes, becoming a she.

She catches up to the panda on a cliff. She just managed to get the top of her gi on. "Wait up ya old fool!" she yells as she jumps, trying to make up some distance. In the air, at eye level, she sees a boy about her age wearing a yellow bandana. She reacts instinctually, kicking him out of the way so she can land safely. Once she lands she quickly moves to follow her father who is jumping along a series of extremely large rocks jutting up a kilometer or so above the ground. "Come back here!" she says as she easily follows him. She notices that her father, not used to the center of mass of his panda body, is having a little trouble keeping balance. For a moment she is worried: "Come BACK HERE!" she yells again with a little of the worry evident in her voice. Then she remembers that this is her father. He's probably already made the adjustment to the different mass distribution and won't make a mistake again. Heck, he's tough enough that even if he DID fall it would probably  
only hurt him a little Ranma then realizes that she isn't having any problem at all. In fact, if anything she has BETTER balance in her cursed form. Good to know...

By now she has reached the other side of the string of rocks and is almost caught up to the panda. Suddenly she hears a faint splash. What was THAT? she wonders stopping to listen. Not hearing anything else she looks down. Whoah! I'm right above the springs! That guy I kicked...kuso! Ah well, probably would have ended up in one of those springs anyway. Suddenly, Ranma remembers something: Hey that guy... kinda looked familiar... She tries to think, odd visions of different types of bread swimming in her head. It couldn't be... No that's impossible! He couldn't have followed me all the way here!

She looks down again, seeing a tiny panda skipping toward a tiny shack. "Aw, he just didn't want to miss breakfast" She says out loud "Well I ain't that hungry yet, and I ain't goin' ta spend the rest of the day pantsless." She runs and jumps her way back to the hot spring, the former classmate she kicked momentarily forgotten. When she gets there, she pauses for a moment, wondering if she should become male again before getting dressed. She decides she's spent enough time in the water and puts on the boxers and the pants of her gi. Besides Pop's right, I need to know how this body works She goes through her katas for about an hour, while the last bit of moisture from the hot spring evaporates from her body.

~~~~[FB ends]~~~~

Ranma laughs. Little did he know that he would get plenty of time to find that out how his female side worked quite accidentally. To think that at one time his new form had actually intrigued him. Ha! How naïve he was! Hot water was never easy to find, and he seemed to be a magnet for the other variety. He grew to hate his cursed form with a passion. It wasn't so bad at Jusenkyo with no one around but his father and the guide, but as soon as he went to any kind of town he had to deal with men ogling him, women trying to get him to wear dresses, and the other, more subtle differences in the way he was treated that just irked him to no end...not to mention the crazy Amazon out for his blood. Soon every day in town would be filled with cries of "I'm a GUY DAMMIT!" followed usually by a fight.

If he could have just stayed at Jusenkyo a day or so longer he might have remembered to ask the guide for a cure, he might have learned something about how the curse worked, or at the very least had a few days of relative peace, but noooooo. They had to go to that stupid Amazon village for breakfast, more like a late lunch by that point. Ranma doesn't even remember the name, some kind of Nuche-whatzit. He, or rather she as Ranma was a girl at the time, was too hungry to care when the guide told her. If it had been any other day things might have gone fine, but that day was when the Amazon martial arts competition was being held.

Perhaps it was that she couldn't see the sign that said, "First place". Perhaps it was because she and her father had been on a see-food diet that often didn't involve currency. Perhaps it was just because she was unbelievably hungry. Whatever the reason she and her father ate the first prize. Which made the winner of the competition very irate. It was then that Ranma had said what he now considers the stupidest thing he had ever said in his life Well, if I defeat you, you've got no problem right?

Oh she had a problem all right. The amazon was easy enough to beat. She had a lot of skill and strength, but her technique concentrated on attacks and she left a few obvious holes in her defense. Ranma kicked into one of these holes, sending Shampoo flying. Ranma hadn't expected it to be so easy. She hadn't really been to many competitions before and so thought that most serious martial artists were more or less at her level, so when the judge announced her the winner she was positively giddy. In fact, she...giggled. Ranma frowns remembering. Men don't giggle. Men don't hit girls. Men don't happily tie their hair into a pigtail while their opponent slowly gets up to give them the kiss of death.

Back then, he usually wore his hair in a ponytail except when doing something messy, like swimming to China, climbing perilous cliffs, or fighting for his life. The ribbon that kept his ponytail in place had a tendency to come undone at inopportune moments and letting his hair get in his face. In a life or death situation, a pigtail is much safer. Of course, once he arrived in China almost everyday provided him with a life or death situation. He remembers now that when Onna-Ranma had returned to the Guide's shack after the hot spring, she found herself looking at her reflection in the mirror and the white ribbon tied in a bow to hold her ponytail. He remembers an odd thrill, and all of a sudden he finds the word that went with the feeling: kawaii. Ranma is confused. Men certainly aren't kawaii. As Ranma thinks about it he realizes that he acted more like a girl that day than any day before or since. It makes him wonder...

Anyway it was rather appropriate that when Ranma received the kiss of death she had her hair in a pigtail. It certainly qualified as a life or death situation. She didn't have enough time to tie it off so it had come undone shortly afterward as she and her father were running, that was probably the last time she wore her hair in a pony tail. A blood-crazed amazon after your life will do wonders for your vanity.

But though things went haywire pretty fast, Ranma never forgot that time in the hot spring. Yes, there were times when his father wasn't such a loser. There were times when he made quite a bit of sense, and Ranma knows that he cares about him. Still, his father is man led as much by his stomach as any sense of honor he might possess, and although he might actually be very clever, his cowardice cancels that out. His father is always controlling his life...just like with this stupid fiancée thing.

Look at her! Some fiancée! The taller, shorthaired girl in the kimono. She kept on touching his breasts. He hated that. Of course she did have a point. He couldn't really be a fiancé to any of them if he was a girl.

I'm just glad you're a... girlAkane said this after she and Ranma sparred. THAT threw him for a loop. He isn't sure how he feels about that. He isn't sure if perhaps he really ought to reveal to the Tendos, especially his new friend, that he is really a guy right away. But they'll find out sooner or later...

Ranma's hand goes to his pigtail. Today is the last day...

~~~~[FB]~~~~

Ranma is taking a bath in a rented room in China. He left his father a few weeks ago and is happy he made the decision. Every day had been spent running from place to place, not ever getting a chance to even talk to anyone. If it wasn't the amazons, it was the owners of the food his father stole. Ranma was sick of it. He reasoned that if he could just stay a man most the time, Shampoo wouldn't be able to find him, and that the main thing keeping him from staying a man was a lack of money. The only way to get money is to work, so, one night, Ranma sneaked away to find his fortune. He could deal with Shampoo if he had to, but this running all over the place had to stop. He came to the town without any money at all. Without any money at all he approached the first building he came to. That building, by a major stroke of luck was the home of the Tasuke family, the only Japanese family in the town. Ranma figured he'd just ask where he could find a job, but when the lady at the  
door saw him she asked right away if he wanted to work in her sushi bar. Ranma said yes, but that there were a few problems. Ranma showed her his curse, but she didn't seem surprised at all.

Her name was Tasuke Heiko and she was the mother of a two-year-old and the wife of the man reputed to be the strongest in town. Ranma was pretty sure he could take him if he needed to but that wasn't the point. The point was that Ranma had a job. He was getting paid. He could get food without stealing it. She needed someone to help keep certain people out of the restaurant. Ranma was perfect because he wouldn't make any of the customers feel nervous as he was not an imposing character, but he could easily dispatch any of the criminals that threatened the customers. Usually her husband was enough for the job, but now gangs were starting to be more common and her husband was getting old.

Working as a bouncer was more boring than he had thought. Most of the time he would just try to pass the time watching the cooks make the sushi and other meals and trying to memorize their movements as if studying martial arts moves. Every now and then though, a gang would try to threaten the customers and Ranma would put them down discreetly. It was so extremely dull; Ranma almost enjoyed the days he worked as a waitress. Tasuke had oddly insisted that he work three nights of the week in his girl form. The waitress uniform was a sort of kimono which could pretty much be worn by a man or a woman and also provided a disguise that could fool Shampoo as long as Ranma let her hair out. So Ranma had hesitantly agreed to it.

Curiously there were not nearly as many accidents as there had been on the road. Initially Ranma was especially worried about would happen if he became male while working as a waitress without the dragon whisker. But he always had easy access to cold water and all that a customer ever saw was her hair flash black and then back to red as Ranma quickly poured a beverage on herself. Aside from her hair being an inch or so longer there were usually no major problems. More frequent of course were the times where he would get splashed with cold water while working as a bouncer, but this didn't happen nearly as much as Ranma would have thought and hardly happened at all after about a week.

After he worked for a few days Tasuke had given him a red Chinese shirt and black pants. At first, Ranma was merely properly grateful. But when he found out that he could wear it in both his forms and it wouldn't fall off or expose his chest... he was practically ecstatic. Not that he cared for the most part about whether anyone saw his girl half's breasts, but that often led to Ranma needing to cream someone, which was awfully inconvenient.

Each night Tasuke, her husband and Ranma talked over tea. Ranma would tell them of his training or what happened that day and they would tell him of their many adventures before settling in China. Tonight was different though. Her husband dismissed himself early and Tasuke told Ranma her story and why she insisted that Ranma work as girl half the time.

"You can control the curse by scheduling periods of time in both forms" Tasuke-san is a thin, wiry woman of medium height, shortish hair and sharp eyes. She just oozes intelligence. She also has a smile that could warm the coldest heart. "At first you need to be in your cursed form longer but then, as long as you purposely change forms now and then, the time you have to be in either form will equal out. If you spend too much time in either form you subconsciously seek out water. After awhile you can go for days without changing but then you need to change every hour or so after that. It's like a living thing you see. The change feeds it."

"So sorry, Tasuke-san but how do you know this?" She looked thoughtful then, deciding how to answer. Ranma remembers her look clearly, because it was the harbinger of the second most shocking knowledge he ever received.

Tasuke sighed and said, as if releasing a weight that she had been holding unconsciously for a long time, "I was once a man." And so began the Conversation.

It began like so many interesting conversations with the question "NANI?"

Tasuke laughed. She laughed and it seemed like she was laughing for the first time. "What indeed, what indeed." She reflected when she was done. "I suppose I better start at the beginning..." and so she told her story.

Before her bout with Jusenkyo, Tasuke was fairly good martial artist himself, although his talents were more concentrated in the occult. In meditation and chi manipulation he found his forte. Always seeking new knowledge he traveled to China. He wished to speak with a group known as the Musk, as well as visit an area reputedly populated by bird-like people. He was very interested in the Amazons he had heard about, but he knew that they were very militant toward outsiders, especially male ones and he didn't want to cause more trouble than he could handle. He was very courteous to his hosts, and very cautious. Still, it was very dangerous talking to such powerful individuals. He had to demonstrate his unique gifts several times. His greatest technique was to make cords out of his chi with which he could wrap enemies in. This was non-violent and highly effective and it usually enabled him to talk to whoever was in charge.

At every location he asked for information on techniques, often trading knowledge for knowledge, but at every location someone would inevitably mention one place: Jusenkyo. Every thing he had heard about it was bad. It had magic though. Not just chi magic either, real, raw, unrefined magic. Tasuke had to go there.

He talked for hours with the guide and exchanged stories, but something kept Tasuke there. The Guide invited him to stay for the night and Tasuke agreed. That night, Tasuke had a dream. A girl, about sixteen or so was running away from something. A man. She ran up and down the rocky terrain, often loosing her footing and scrambling up awkwardly. She ran past a cluster of pools sparkling eerily in the moonlight. She paused for a moment as if realizing something then ran again. Just as she came to the edge of one of the pools a rock flew at the girl's head and connected, knocking her into the pool. In the dream Tasuke came up to the pool and into it seeing the body of the girl. In a sudden movement the girl reached out of the water and pulled Tasuke in. It was then that Tasuke woke up, cold, wet, and female.

Tasuke Heiko paused in her story to ask Ranma a question. "How do you feel about women, Ranma?"

Ranma wasn't sure how to answer the question. "I don't know. They're alright I guess."

"If a man and a woman were in a fight, who would win?"

"The man." Ranma said without hesitation.

Tasuke laughed again "You've never had a girlfriend have you, Ranma?"

"Er... no"

"I suppose that'll make the transition easier for you then. Me, I was engaged to the most beautiful woman I ever saw."

"Transition? What do you mean?"

Tasuke sighed "Ranma, there isn't a cure. I've searched the entire world for one, and if I, someone attuned to mystic fluxes and ki resonators can't find it, there's no way you will. You have many choices but when you rule out the ones that bring insanity or death, it pretty much comes down to two. You can either remain as you are now, a half woman, half man... Or you can become a woman permanently."

Ranma didn't say anything for awhile, he just looked at Tasuke, suddenly realizing who she was, the choices she had made, and what that meant. He didn't accept that there wasn't a cure; he couldn't, but Tasuke had put the first tinge of doubt in his mind. That doubt would never go away. Not wanting to think about this, Ranma finally asked, "So... you had a girlfriend?"

" I was engaged. There is a bit of a difference." Tasuke frowned slightly.

"What's that?"

"Well... it was an arrangement between our parents. I loved her anyway, so it wasn't that bad, but it was like we were already married. We were living together, sleeping in the same bed, and we were close, but... looking back I wish we had more time to get to know each other. I wish we could have had our first kiss at the end of a date rather than... you probably don't want to hear this. The main problem was that I was only a little older than you are now, and I took what I had for granted."

"What'd you do when..."

"After it happened I went to places around the world, looking for a cure. I didn't want to return home uncured. I was like Odysseus, unable to come home until the curse was lifted."

"Who's Oddypuss?"

"Odysseus...Nevermind. He's a character in a popular story. He went through many adventures trying to find his way home, as did I. I never found a cure. In ten years I couldn't find one. Finally, I grew so homesick I went to see my fiancée. She was with another man. They all thought I had died. Like Odysseus, no one recognized me. I had to prove who I was. Finally everybody believed me...but then...I had to show them all the curse. Afterwards I talked to the love of my life...For a moment she looked like she would embrace me. Then she gave me the hardest slap I ever received in my life and turned away. That was when I knew... my old life was over." Tasuke wiped away a tear from her cheek and sighed. "I guess it still gets me even now."

Ranma felt tears of his own threatening to drop from his eyes. He swallowed against the lump in his throat. For some reason the story touched him in a way nothing had before. It wasn't the saddest thing he ever heard but for some reason it made him think of his mother...and there he was trying not to cry...

"Ranma," Tasuke said, "don't ever let anyone keep you from crying."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked. The moisture in his eye traveled down his face. He wiped it off and looked at his hand in surprise. "B- but..."

Tasuke smiled, "Yes, Ranma, you're human."

"I'm a man! Men aren't supposed to cry!"

Tasuke politely smacked Ranma with a frying pan.

"OW! What dya do THAT for!" And how did she manage to do that politely? Ranma wonders.

"Men cry all the time, Ranma. Your father cries, doesn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but only when he's tryin' to get me to do somethin'... And I never said Pops was manly."

"Some of the manliest men in the world cry, Ranma. When you cry, and it's for real, then it means you care for something. It means that you respect what is lost and treasure what remains. It also means you are willing to let it go." Tasuke looked over Ranma's left shoulder with a distant expression.

Ranma turned around, but all he saw was a cabinet with a tea set made for cha-no-yo. Ranma didn't know that much about cha-no-yo, just that it was a very special tea ceremony that was supposed to restore harmony between two people. When Ranma was little Genma would sometimes read him samurai stories...Harmony or "wa" was extremely important to the samurai. Ranma thought about his father. He cared for him once; he still did a little, but where was the wa? There are so many things Genma has to answer for, but Ranma wished then, and wishes now, thinking about it, that there could be harmony again.

"It was a long time before I could cry about her. I kept thinking she would take me back, that she would love me again, but she only got angrier. Finally she threatened to have me killed if I bothered her again. That was when I knew that I was beaten. I cried for hours and in the end did something I instantly regretted but now view as the most beneficial rash act I've ever committed." Tasuke got up and walked to the cabinet. She opened it and took out an odd metal teakettle and a small longish vial.

"What did you..."

"I never found a cure, but I found a few ways to lock the curse. The Musk have an artifact called the Chisuiton which is a magical ladle that makes the water it holds lock curses." Ranma was silent as Tasuke filled the odd kettle with the rest of the hot water that was used to make the tea. "This isn't that. I'd have never touched that after I got the curse and I stayed as far away from the Musk as possible once I got the curse for...other reasons. This does, however work on the same principles. If you drink the water from this kettle while you are immersed in hot water, you will change into your cursed form and remain in that form for about six months, the time varies of course person to person but its almost never completely permanent." Tasuke poured water from the locking teakettle into the vial and handed the vial to Ranma.

"Why the hell would I want that!" Ranma exclaimed.

"As I've said several times, Ranma there is no cure. You have to adapt. There are two ways you can do this. Either you keep changing back and forth willy nilly not sure of yourself and not sure what sex you'll be from one moment to the next, or you can get all of it over with in half a year. The magic now in this vial feeds your curse Ranma, and after it wears off you have three months until you are drawn toward water again. You have three months of being whatever sex you want! This is the closest thing to a cure I found, Ranma, don't be so quick to refuse it."

"I dunno, six months as a girl for three months as a mostly male...It don't sound all that great ta me."

"Of course it doesn't now Ranma. It didn't to me either when the old woman in that village insisted I take it. But in my desperation that night I drank it, swearing that if I couldn't love her than I would never love another woman. I regretted that for a long time, but I learned more about myself and my craft in that six months than I ever did in all my years of training."

"So you're saying that by stayin' a girl longer you learned more about ki?"

"Definitely. Ki is the power of the soul and being a woman allows that power to travel in new directions."

"It turned you into a girl." Ranma accused.

"It did no such thing."

"You're a girl now..."

Tasuke raised her hands in front of her face with her finger splayed and a bright pinkish light shot out and hit Ranma. Ranma felt the change.

"So are you." Tasuke said with a smirk.

"But...I thought..." Ranma didn't understand. How could she make him change without water?

"I can trigger other people's curses without much problem. Doesn't help me of course. Trying to use ki magic on yourself is like trying to look into your own eyes. The pink color is a nice touch don't you think?" Ranma just stared at her wide-eyed. Hearing the story was one thing, seeing evidence of it was another. "You are a girl now Ranma. In every respect of the word. If you still do male things than you're a bit of a tomboy. If you are attracted to women, then you are a lesbian. It doesn't matter that ten seconds ago you were a boy. It doesn't matter that you still think of yourself as one. It's a really simple observation to make, Ranma. And if you refuse to make it, then you are weakened by it."

Ranma didn't know what to say.

"Ranma, I know you don't believe me now, but it's really better if you drink the vial. Your father is nearby... I can sense him. When he comes, and he will come, then he's going to use your sense of manhood against you. He's going to make you do things that you don't want to do because your manhood is threatened. With that vial you can take that power away from him. I do not know for certain if this will be so, but I do know this is what he intends."

Ranma shook her head "I ain't gonna be a girl for half a year just ta get back at Pops."

Tasuke sighed, "Can you please promise me that you will at least take it with you? If you don't use in ninety days or so it loses its power anyway and you can throw it away."

Ranma considered. There really wasn't any harm in humoring her. "Okay...you win...but, how am I gonna carry it?"

"You can tie it up in your pigtail can't you?"

"Yeah I guess so." Ranma untied her hair and retied the pigtail around the vial. It was thin enough that there wasn't a visible difference in Ranma's hair.

"I'll just leave you to your thoughts now, Ranma. Just remember, admitting that you are a girl doesn't make you any less of a man."

"What the hell kinda sense does that make?" Ranma asked. Tasuke just smiled and left the room. The thing was it did sort of make sense if you thought about it.

Ranma is thinking about it now in the bath. Technically Tasuke is right. He really can't get around that, but still, he can't agree with it. The simple statement "when I am a girl, I am a girl" was a statement that would throw everything Ranma knew about himself into turmoil were he to agree to it.

He thinks about his father. "He's gonna call me a girl." Ranma knew that as surely as Tasuke did. "He's gonna tell me ta do something and call me a girl if I don't do it." Ranma felt his pigtail rethinking for a moment the idea of just agreeing with his father and refusing to follow his order. But if he did that, he'd have to agree that he was a girl. He just cannot do that. He is a man and he isn't going to say he was a girl just because some housewife said so. A housewife who had seen more, done more, and learn more, than Ranma could even dream. "She's right...I'm weak." Ranma says sadly. "When Pops comes I'll do whatever he says..." Ranma thinks for a moment agonizing over what he is going to say. "Alright dammit! I'm a girl sometimes, I gotta get over people callin' me that. But that don't mean I gotta act like one! I ain't gonna ever worry `bout clothes or cook people food, or clean rooms, or wear dresses and stuff. I'm a man. I just got a girl's body sometimes. If  
someone calls me a girl I'll let it slide from now on, but if they ever say I act like one...open season" Ranma cracked his knuckles on this thought. That still didn't help with his father though. He makes an amendment: "And Pops is an idiot. Nothin' he's says really matters anyway." Ranma frowns. He knows that even if he doesn't respond to his father's insults, if Pops, he'll go with him. Suddenly he realizes the reason. "Dammit! I miss the old bastard."

Ranma gets up and dries off. "Well," he says resignedly, "I guess I better go pack." Ranma does not consider drinking the vial again. He does not throw it away either.

~~~~[FB ends]~~~~

Today is the last day.

It had taken more than a month to travel all the way to Hong Kong. If Ranma hadn't saved as much money from his job as he did or if he hadn't hidden it so well they would have had to swim back to Japan and they would have arrived several days after the vial was useless. Tasuke explained that the magic was dissolved into the water like carbon dioxide in seltzer water and that like seltzer water it would go flat after awhile. As long as there was a little "fizz" the magic would work to its full potential, but if it was completely flat it would just be water. Ranma took her word for it not really understanding and not caring and left with his father.

Throughout the month or so of travel Ranma remained secure about his decision that night in the bath. If someone called him a girl he gritted his teeth and bore it, but he still took the liberty of reeducating those who were under the impression that that made him less of a man. Ranma more or less forgot about the vial, except sometimes at night, listening to his father's panda snores, when he felt particularly miserable. He would sometimes think of what his life would have been like had he been born a girl. She would have stayed home with mom probably. Would probably have had more friends. Probably wouldn't have a fear of cats and wouldn't have to worry about undoing her hair or anything else. Sometimes that life looked pretty good, and Ranma would touch his pigtail wondering. He always decided in the end though, that he preferred the chaos that he was living through to whatever piece of knitting he would be working on if he were a girl.

What Akane had said though... He really wishes he could be Akane's friend for just a little bit longer. Ranma takes out the vial from his pigtail, and looks at it. Ranma shakes his head. Six months is just too long, especially for such a silly reason.

"Well, might as well throw this away, this bein' the last day and all." He aims for the trash.

Now given five seconds or more of silence the vial will wind up in the trash, never to be seen again. Akane inevitably encounters a male Ranma and the usual hilarity ensues. But although there are an infinite number of universes wherein those five seconds exist, there are an equally infinite amount of universes wherein Akane decides to take a bath on her own, or meets Kasumi shortly after Ranma is shown to her room or is closer to the kitchen when Nabiki goes to find her. In these universes Akane, upon seeing the clothes in the basket and exclaiming "Oh I guess we can both take our baths!" causes Ranma to pause before throwing the vial...

Oh no! That's Akane! If she sees me like this...

Ranma quickly pops the cork off the vial, downs its contents and lays down in the furo allowing the water to pass over his...now her head. Akane opens the door. Ranma slowly brings her head out to see Akane in the doorway. Jeez that was close!

Akane is naked. Ranma realizing this averts her eyes as best she can. "Umm. Hi, Akane" Ranma hadn't thought out this far. Akane was going to be naked in the furo with her! And Pops how am I gonna deal with him? And Shampoo!

"What's wrong Ranma? You're looking a little nervous. Come on relax... We're both girls right?"

"R-right." Ranma says with the wince she still hadn't quite gotten rid of. She thinks of the problems she will soon face and of the somewhat different situation she is in at the moment and doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Ranma is a girl...and she's in hot water.

~~~~*~~~~~

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was originally intended as a one-shot but I might add more to it now since it's just crying to be continued. I started this before I started work on Ch.2 of Thyself Known so that's why it's a little weird. I'm still working on Ch. 3 of TK. I ran into a snag and had to run away for a bit. I'm busy on another fic now and I have to derail myself from that track before I get back to TK, but I do plan to continue it.

A dog breeder once went to a vet. His pure bred cocker spaniel just had a litter of puppies and one of them was a Shitsu! When the dog breeder asked how something like that could happen the vet just shrugged and said. "Shitsu happens."

You should never upload fics when you're tired...


	2. Hot Water

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by Zorknot

**4-9-19-3-12-1-9-13-5-18**: 18-1-14-13-1 ½ 9-19 15-23-14-5-4 2-25 18-22-13-9-11-15 20-1-11-1-8-1-19-8-9.

~~~~~Ch2: Hot water~~~~~

Ranma lowers herself into the furo.

Nothing happens.

Ranma is alone now and the massive emotional typhoon that whipped about her yesterday has quieted down to about the level of a severe thunderstorm. This leaves Ranma free to once again take account of her situation. It feels weird to be in hot water while female. More than a month of having the curse made it seem almost normal to be female in cold water. Cold water became synonymous with "girl" and hot water with "man," but now… now it doesn't matter what kind of water she is in.

Feeling a little depressed by this thought she sinks deep into the furo and thinks about how her life has dramatically changed for the worse…again. She looks around the Tendo washroom now hoping to find some distraction in the surroundings, which were still a little, new to her. On the floor beside the furo wall, she finds the vial.

It's still there from when she was with Akane.

~~~~[]~~~~

"So, have you been training long?" Akane asks as she relaxes at the other end of the furo, naked.

"J-just about as l-long as I can remember." Ranma answers trying to get as far away from Akane as possible without appearing to. She realizes she still has the vial in her hands and that she is using it as a worry rock.

"It shows… You're really good." Akane's brow tensed in a slight frown of concern. "Are you okay, Ranma?" She asks, nakedly nudging Ranma's foot with her own.

"Eeep!" Ranma says as she seems to jump a foot into the air at the contact. Akane giggles au natural. "S-sorry," Ranma says sheepishly. "I…It's j-just I ain't used ta takin' baths with… girls. Er.. I mean other girls." Ranma winced a bit at this correction. She had practically called herself a girl! Seeing Akane in the clothes she was born in, though, it was a lot safer at the moment to be a girl.

"Oh that's right!" Akane exclaims in the buff, "You were pretty much by yourself during your training weren't you?"

"Yeah," Ranma nodded her head and rubbed the vial with her thumbs, "Just me an' Pops mostly. Ukyo trained with us for a little, but he don't really count."

"Oh, well my sisters and I take baths together all the time. It's a lot nicer actually. Here turn around. I'll show you." Akane insists nudely.

Ranma hesitantly turns her back to Akane. This is actually more or less what she wanted to do when Akane got here, but… she didn't want to be rude or maybe she just didn't think of it. Ranma is somewhat relieved that she doesn't have to see Akane's extreme nakedness, but she wonders what the girl has in mind. "Eeep!" She says again as she feels Akane's hands on her shoulders.

"Relax, Ranma, I'm just going to massage your back…You're so tense!" Akane kneaded Ranma's shoulders, vigorously working out the kinks. The sensation varies from moderate pain to intense pleasure. It is quite easily the best massage Ranma got since that one in the odd temple with the trained gorilla…

"Mmmmh… You got strong hands, Akane" Ranma is having a hard time not relaxing now.

For many mammals, there are things that will make them your friend for life. For dogs, you rub their belly. For cats, you gently scratch the top of their head. For horses it's their nose. Humans may be beyond such things, but not by much. Massage someone's back sometime and see if they don't treat you a little nicer afterwards.

"I'm not hurting you am I? My sisters sometimes say I'm a little too forceful."

"Nah… that's perfect!" Ranma exclaims, giddy from pleasure mixed with nervousness.

"You're still too tense…Let me try something." Like a switch turning off, all of Ranma's nervousness is gone and she is completely relaxed.

Everything's okay. Fine. Hunky dorey, and smooth sailing.

So she's going to be a girl for the next six months.

So she's sitting naked in the bath with an equally naked girl.

So her father is going to disown her.

So Shampoo is going to kill her.

That's all cool with Ranma….at the moment these petty concerns are no more than the wisps of smoke of a village burning many hundreds of kilometers away. Hardly anything to concern oneself with now amidst fields of rosy blossoms and flitting birds. Note how sweetly the flowers' fragrance mixes with the scent of brimstone. Watch how gracefully the colorful spring birds fall from the sky… like feathery raindrops. Yes, all is right with the world... "Hey! It worked! Does that feel better?"

"Akane, I love you." Ranma says breathily. The air is thick with dramatic irony.

Akane giggles "I guess it does!" Akane continues, softer now that there is less resistance, but with more precision. Ranma starts purring. "Hey, that's weird! How are you doing that?"

"Learned it from a few cats while they were eatin' my flesh and tearin' through my sensitive skin with claws of angry death." Ranma says dreamily. "Wow. I've never been this relaxed before, what'd you do?"

"It was a relaxation pressure point I found in one of the books Kasumi was reading." Akane replied woodenly apparently a little shocked at Ranma's answer. "First time I was able to do it."

"That's amazin'. Kasumi's the older one right? I didn't take her for a martial artist."

"Oh, she's not in the traditional sense," Akane replied cheerfully shaking off her earlier surprise, " but she knows more pressure points than almost anyone else I know. Well, except for Tofu-sensei of course."

"Tofu?"

"Yes, he's our family doctor. He really knows a lot. He's been training and working at the clinic since he entered high school. He's back here working on his doctoral thesis."

"He ain't a doctor yet?"

"He's already a licensed chiropractor, but he's getting a second degree in…Occult Medicine or something like that. He went through college pretty fast so he's still very young…almost Kasumi's age in fact…" Akane stops massaging Ranma's back

"Is somethin' wrong?" Ranma asks, turning around. Akane is looking thoughtful, leaning against the furo wall. Its odd, she's not a naked girl anymore…now she's a person…a friend…maybe more. Ranma blinks. It was just a massage… not anything big. Still if she were a man right now… She's not a man now? Well of course not! She drank what was in that vial didn't she? She's going to be a girl for six months now, and you know what? She doesn't care! So she'll just be best friend she can be to Akane and after the six months is over…she'll let the pieces fall where they may. Hey look! Those clouds in the sky look like cute little black bunnies!

"Oh it's nothing." Akane says with a smile. "So you and Ukyo…were you two close?"

"I guess you could say that…We did nearly everythin' together. We went fishin' we sparred, I even helped him cook okonomiyaki a couple times. His dad was an okonomiyaki chef, and I tell you, you haven't had okonomiyaki 'till you've had Kuonji Okonomiyaki!" Ranma lets out a chuckle. Slogans are so funny aren't they? Let's see if Ranma had a slogan it could be Ranma, the amazing aquatransexual, just add water! Or…better yet…Ranma ½, yin and yang were never so much fun! Yes that's perfect! If Ranma ever becomes a prostitute, THAT's the one she's sticking with.

Akane smiles slightly but there's a slight sadness in her eyes. "So what happened?"

"Well, when I was about seven or so, Pops sat me down and asked 'Which would you rather have Ukyo or okonomiyaki.'" Ranma says her father's words in a silly voice. "I was a kid and I didn't know any better…so I said okonomiyaki. Last I saw of Ucchan he was tryin' to catch up to us while Pops ran off with his father's okonomiyaki cart! Isn't that funny?"

"I didn't realize you were that young at the time."

"Hmm? Oh! You thought…nah it was nothin' like that. But he's probably pretty cute…now" Did I just say that? Did I just call a guy cute? Shhh… shhh. It's all cool. Bloody feathers in the sky, burning roses waving in the wind… Akane still looks a little down. "Hey…you look like ya could use a back rub yourself. I ain't as good as you, but I know a few things…" Ranma wonders at what she just asked. She wonders if the relaxation point will wear off suddenly making her a bundle of nerves again. She decides to stop wondering.

"Okay." Akane turns around giving Ranma easy access to her shoulders. Ranma puts the vial on the floor by the furo and starts massaging Akane's shoulders. Now, what was it that gorilla did? Oh right! Put the fingers like this and the thumb…

"Ooh that feels good!" Akane moans. After a minute or so Ranma has gotten all of the tension she could find out of Akane's back. "Ranma," She says in a near whisper, "I love you too." And Akane and Ranma live happily ever after.

…in a different universe perhaps. In this one, Akane is just joking. She giggles and Ranma joins her. "Seriously, though… neither of my sisters can ever work out all kinks. You must have done this before."

"Well Pops and I stopped at this weird temple for a day or so. Surprised I remembered any of it really."

"Ranma, what happened to your father?" Ranma pauses her massaging. Akane still thinks Pops is a panda!

A little of the nervousness comes back as Ranma tries to think of a way to explain Jusenkyo and why she was still a girl and why if she was really a man she was sitting in the furo with another girl naked without even trying not to look. Ranma wonders about that last one herself. It's okay man, groovy. Flames wave gently in the breeze, glowing embers fall gracefully from the sky…damn"I…uh…Pops…well Pops and I we went to this trainin' grounds called Jusenkyo see and uh…"

It is more or less at this moment that the furo door slides open again revealing Nabiki, fully clothed and wielding a camera. SHASHIN! Goes the camera with a flash. "Oh now I KNOW I can get some good money from THAT one." Nabiki drawls.

Ranma stares at Nabiki dumbly…Akane however is not nearly as tacit in her response. "NABIKI! I told you! NO MORE PICTURES OF ME IN THE FURO!"

Ranma is in awe of the intense anger coming out of Akane. She looks from Akane to Nabiki…Does this sort of thing happen a lot?

"You two might want to get dressed. Daddy still thinks Ranma is a boy, and there's a strange man here who says he's her father."

"Hey," Ranma says, taking a little offense, "he ain't strange!"

"Hmmm, so he IS your father…interesting." Nabiki closes the furo door with a thoughtful expression.

"HONESTLY!" Akane fumes beside Ranma. "I'm sorry, Ranma, I should have warned you about Nabiki."

"S'alright," Ranma assures her friend, " ain't like it was your fault or nothin'. Is she always like that?"

"Pretty much." She sighs. "Hey let's get dressed, I'm starting to prune!"

"Um…okay." Ranma gets out of the water first and grabs a towel.

"So tell me, Ranma…" Akane says mischievously, "How is it that you are natural redhead?"

When Ranma realizes the implications of that remark her body almost matches her hair in hue. The effects of the relaxation point haven't gone away yet, but they're fading fast. In fact, the extra bit of calm is a bit of a pain now. Ranma might have normally responded to such a question with a "Why dya want ta know" or something to that affect to immediately dissolve the nervous tension. Now she is just relaxed enough that she feels like giving an answer. The problem is, for the life of her, Ranma can not think of one. "I…It's a long story, Akane." Ranma says.

She can see the tiny bit of confusion in Akane's eyes. Any oriental born with red hair would have to know the story of how such a thing came to be. It was just too weird to be ignored. Ranma hopes that confusion doesn't turn into suspicion, and that Akane holds back on the questions until Ranma can find better answers for them. But what answers could Ranma possibly give that wouldn't make her seem crazy or perverted…or that weren't outright lies?

Lying might work actually… but though the remaining effects of the relaxation point allowed her to consider it, Ranma knew she could never really lie her way out of this. She was a terrible liar and besides, what did that monk at the temple say? Oh yes, "Always be true to your friends, especially if one of them is a seven hundred pound gorilla."

Looking, at Akane, Ranma can't help but be reminded of that gorilla…

It's going to be a long night Ranma thinks as she dries herself off.

~~~~[]~~~~

It was.

It was an extremely, horrendously long night.

While in the year or so since Ranma left for China with her father she hadn't actually been anywhere that had an honest to goodness furo in it, she had lived in enough dojos the nine or so years previous to know what to expect. She knew for instance, that it was bad form to go into the furo without washing first with cold water. This, she learned at a fairly young age, was because the water in the furo wasn't changed that often and it wasn't nice to make other people bathe in dirty water. The owners of the furo tended to get rather irate about that. Ranma knew this from experience.

She also knew that staying in the furo for long periods of time was not a good idea, especially after a work out. This was because you could lose consciousness and drown, or worse, you could get sick and throw up, making a mess. This made the owners of the furo rather irate. Ranma knew this from experience.

Another thing she knew was that one should not allow oneself to be in the furo with a member of the opposite sex, especially if that person was related to the owner of the furo, because that sort of thing tended to make people rather irate. Due to Genma's unfortunate encouragement of a 13 year old boy named Ranma, she knew this too from experience.

From all this experience she had also learned to ignore the robes that often hung in the anterooms connecting the wash room to the rest of the house. One had to be absolutely sure one wasn't going to be kicked out of the house by the owner of the robes before using them. Otherwise one tended to find that one has quite inadvertently stolen a robe and must now spend a few nights in jail. While Ranma's record with the police showed no criminal behavior, a certain "Kumon Ryu" had a rap sheet a mile long in which several of the earlier entries included the theft of a furo robe. Ranma once asked Pops if there were an actual person named Kumon Ryu. Pops just told him to shut up.

When Ranma was about halfway through putting her boxers back on, she noticed that Akane was looking at her with her nose scrunched in mild disgust. Ranma got that sinking feeling she always got when she felt like she was going to learn something.

"You were just wearing those weren't you?"

"Uh…yeah." Ranma admitted.

"You don't think that's gross?"

"Well, it ain't like I got another pair with me or nothin'. 'Sides boxers are pretty loose so it ain't so bad." Ranma said defensively.

"We do have robes you know." Akane informed Ranma putting one on, illustrating her point.

"Um…" Ranma wasn't sure she should share her reasons for not using the robes.

Akane nodded sagely…a reaction Ranma would later learn came from her father, "You HAVE been on the road a long time haven't you?"

"Yeah…so?"

"Well you don't talk like a girl at all and no girl I know wears boxers, much less the same ones every day. You act like you're a boy or something! What do you do during your physiology (seiri)?"

Ranma was shocked at how on the money Akane was. She wasn't quite sure what she meant by her question though… "Um… I don't go ta school so I don't have Physiology."

Akane looked confused for a moment then smacked herself in the head. "No! Not your Physiology! Your PHYSIOLOGY, your menstruation (gekkei)!"

"Oh…What's menstruation?" Ranma was a bit confused.

"You know what Physiology is but you don't know what menstruation is? Honestly! It's like you just became a girl yesterday!"

"Actually I've been a girl for about a month now…off and on." Ranma answered truthfully, her eyes wide. Was Akane a mind reader or something? If the others were this sharp there was no way Ranma could keep her manhood a secret!

Akane looked at Ranma quizzically and then… she laughed. Her laugh was infectious, even if Ranma didn't know what she was laughing about, and she found herself chuckling slightly along with her. "You had me going for a little while there, Ranma! Really you're such a kidder! Sorry I don't mean to bother you about it, but my sister Kasumi is always telling me to stop being such a tomboy…if she knew about you she'd have a fit!"

"Huh?" Ranma felt like she and Akane had been having two completely different conversations.

"Oh don't worry. You're a guest after all. I'm sure she won't bother you about it too much." Akane put her hand to the door out of the laundry room and paused. "Still, maybe you'd better come upstairs with me and let me see if I have anything that fits you. If you stay here you're probably going to have to start school. I get enough comments just from me knowing martial arts. If you show up they're going to peg you for a dyke for sure." Akane exited and closed the door.

"Dyke?…SCHOOL? I ain't gonna go ta school!" At least, she hoped not. Not after what happened LAST time.

What happened last time was long stretches of insurmountable boredom punctuated by brief intervals of mild amusement…mostly involving bread. There was only one other martial artist there and he was just on the positive side of pitiful. Ranma couldn't even remember his name now, Ryo-ohki Chibiga or something like that.

Ranma looked at her boxers. It WAS kind of gross to have to put them on again. Akane seemed nice and it didn't seem like Ranma and her father were going to get kicked out any time soon. Ranma shrugged and took a robe out of the closet and put it on and exited the laundry room.

Akane was at the foot of the steps when she came out so she decided to follow her. She forgot where Akane was going. It is said that no one can think of more than seven things at the same time. Ranma was juggling about fifteen thoughts at the time. So it was that she also paid no attention to Pops and Mr. Tendo having a heated argument on the porch by the stairs.

Akane stopped halfway up the stairs, almost making Ranma bump into her. "You aren't a lesbian, are you?" Ranma was unprepared for the question. She was reminded briefly of what Tasuke had said a month and a half ago. If she liked girls…Did she still like girls? Looking at Akane's back, something that would have surely incited a reaction in her male form, she couldn't be sure. What she felt when she thought of Akane was a warm fuzzy feeling that she previously only felt from her father from time to time and Ukyo. What did that mean?

"Uh…no?" Ranma's answer was as good as any and, as far as she could tell at the time, not a lie. She'd have to think about it more later though.

Like now for instance. AM I a lesbian? Ranma asks herself, looking at the vial in her hand. What does that mean? Does it mean she is still a man?

No.

It just means that she is a girl who likes other girls.

Ranma throws the vial at the wall, hoping it would break, but it only tingle tangles loudly on the tiles and rolls back to the side of the furo. Ranma picks it up again. Tasuke was right. She has to admit that at least for the next five months and 29 days and whenever she is cursed after that she is a girl. No amount of rationalization or wishing will change that fact. Physically she is female, and that is the only requirement for girlhood. That doesn't mean she has to like it.

But is it okay then for her to be a lesbian? Is it okay for other people? Ranma had never had this conversation with her father, but she is pretty sure he wouldn't be any help at all. As far as Ranma can tell there isn't anything wrong with it, but then why is everyone so hung up about it?

Ranma isn't any surer of her answer to Akane's question than she was back then. Still, wanting some kind of closure on the matter, she decides that if she does still like girls, she will try to keep it a secret as long as people don't know about her being a man. Ranma remembers Akane's response…

"That's good," Akane said continuing up the steps, "That's the LAST thing I need right now." There was a severe undercurrent of anger affecting her voice.

When they got to Akane's room, Ranma suddenly remembered why they were there. "Um… I ain't so sure about this…"

"Ranma, believe me, things will go a whole lot smoother if you just try to fit in."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for one thing the way you talk is all wrong. Try being a little more polite and use 'atashi' instead of 'ore' when speaking about yourself. I know 'ore' sounds cooler, but what works in anime doesn't work in real life."

"You've used 'ore' before?" Ranma asked.

Akane sighed, "When I was little. It got me cast as Romeo in our elementary school play. That was NOT fun." Akane opened a drawer in her dresser and offered Ranma a pair of panties. "Here, you can borrow these until you can get some of your own." Ranma just stared at the forbidden item before her. "Well, put them on!" Ranma hesitantly took the underwear. She was going to be a girl for six months after all…

Ranma was still staring at the garment in her hand when she noticed that Akane had already put her underwear on and was putting on a bra. "Let me guess," Akane conjectured as she fastened her bra together, "your father never thought to buy you feminine underwear. Am I right?"

"Yeah…" That was certainly true.

Akane sighed, "I would have had the same problem if it weren't for my sisters. My mom passed away when I was very young, and my father couldn't handle buying panties. Said it reminded him too much of the past or something. Just put them on, they're more comfortable than you'd think."

Woodenly, Ranma complied. Moments later, Ranma Saotome, man among men, was wearing panties. Ranma crossed a point of no return and could not go back. Her notion of herself suffered a major upheaval. Meanwhile, in the outside world, nothing changed. No earthquakes or tidal waves altered the landscape, the sun did not stand still in the heavens, and Ranma was still Ranma, only now with panties. Ranma had difficulty getting past this.

"I'm sorry 'bout your mom." Ranma said trying to distract herself from…herself.

"Oh its alright, I still miss her…I still sometime wish I could have her back, but I've gotten used to her not being here. You just have to move on you know?" Akane put on a bra and pulled out an outfit from her closet. A white blouse with a light red overdress. It was a sort of casual version of the girls' school uniform.

This made Ranma think about what she was wearing again. The panties weren't uncomfortable, if one discounted the fact that they were a little small and so continually felt like they were falling off. Ranma would hate to have them on if she changed into a guy though. The garment seemed to be built to point out that its wearer could in no way be a male. Changing into one would thereby mean experiencing anything from extreme discomfort to excruciating pain. Ranma noted this for future reference as Akane put her fingers to her chin in thought. "Now, bras… I think you're a little bigger than I am in the chest…"

"Hey!" Ranma protested.

"Oh I wasn't insulting you that's a good thing!"

"It's a pain in the ass." Many times Ranma wondered morosely why, if she had to be a girl, she had to have such big breasts. They attracted all kinds of unwanted attention, they got in the way during a fight, and she couldn't even LOOK like a man with them. She had tried to bind her chest once…she later decided she'd rather have someone kick her in the balls once in her male form than go through that torture for a day.

"I think I know what you mean. You do know about sports bras right?" Ranma shrugged, "You don't," Akane sighed. "Sports bras are great, Ranma. They're the only feminine product that I am absolutely sure was invented by a woman. I don't know how I'd get through my morning jog without one that's for sure."

"Really." Ranma said…she could already tell what was going to happen next.

"Here," Akane tossed Ranma an odd article of clothing. It was stretchy and looked somewhat like a bra crossed with a tank top. "I'm a 38 and you look like about a 40. My normal bras wouldn't fit you but that should."

Ranma sighed. Why am I doing this again? Ranma asked herself. Oh yeah she thinks I'm really a girl and I have to keep her thinking that. An odd thought occurred to her. She was…worrying about clothes. Another line had been crossed. Dammit! She quickly pulled the sports bra over her head. It was snug but…Ranma had not known how much stress there had been on her back until it was suddenly lessened. Oddly something about it seemed familiar to Ranma. "This is sorta like a jock strap!"

"Funny you should say that. The first sports bra was actually made in 1977 by Hinda Miller and a friend when they sewed two jockstraps together." Akane had just put on her blouse and was about to pull on the light red dress when she said this.

"Huh?"

"I did tell you I was absolutely sure that it was invented by a woman didn't I? The lady at the store was a little…enthusiastic." Akane furrowed her brow a bit in slight confusion. "What kind of childhood did you have, Ranma. I mean you know about jock straps, but not sports bras?"

Before she realized it Ranma found herself saying, "I haven't seen my mom in ten years. For all I know she could be dead too." She was better at this selective truth telling then she thought… Or maybe she just was tired of not talking about it with her father.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Akane was now fully clothed. "After I find something for you to wear, maybe I could ask my sister to find out about her for you. " Akane offered as she started going through her closet.

"Who, Kasumi?"

"She might actually know already," Akane said as if considering a new thought, moving a box out of the closet and on to the bed. "But I was thinking of Nabiki."

"The pervert?" Ranma spoke without thinking again.

Akane stopped rummaging through her closet. "You know…I never thought of it before…but she IS a little perverted isn't she?" Akane stopped kneeled down. Huh? What's this?" Akane retrieved a dusty notebook from the dark of the closet. She opened it. She closed it again. Then she opened it again. Then she screamed.

Ranma was caught quite unprepared for this. Her thoughts ran something like this: What's that! A scream? Akane's scream! What's going on? Nothing. Why did she scream? Should I ask her? Maybe she's upset. Is it my fault? I don't know. What's that sound? Footsteps. Her family! They're coming up here? What are they going to think when they see me? I better go hi-

Soun Tendo burst into the room followed shortly by Nabiki with Kasumi and Genma bringing up the rear. Ranma was frozen mid-sprint. "Now I ask you, Daddy. Is that a boy or a girl?," Nabiki drawled motioning toward Ranma's state of dress, which left no room for doubt as to her current sex.

"A girl," Soun replied absently.

"What is the meaning of this, boy?" Genma demanded.

"What's wrong, Akane?" asked Kasumi as she entered the room ignoring Ranma.

"It's this!" Akane replied. It was just some crummy notebook. That was it. That was what she was screaming about. Ranma's mouth opened in disbelief. "I was looking in the closets for some clothes for Ranma and there it was. Isn't this Mother's notebook?"

Kasumi took the notebook and opened it. Her father looked over her shoulder and exclaimed "It IS her book!"

"Hey it is," agreed Nabiki, "I can recognize her handwriting."

Ranma hurriedly put the furo robe on. Maybe everyone would forget…

Pop stared straight at Ranma. "I asked you a question, boy."

"Good grief, Mr. Saotome! Why won't you and Daddy listen! There is no way THAT is a boy!" Nabiki exclaimed frustrated.

"Uhh… so that's your mother's note book, Akane?" Ranma asked trying to get the subject back off her.

Akane nodded.

Kasumi closed the notebook reverently. "All of her cooking recipes are written in this one book. All of her secrets."

"Secrets?" Ranma asked. It was a knee-jerk response that she had developed after ten years of hidden martial arts techniques, trapped evil spirits, and ancient Chinese curses.

"Yes," Nabiki piped up, "secrets. Like, how is it that your father thinks that you're really a boy, where did you get that ridiculous hair color, and most importantly, and I ask this with no intended disrespect, why are you still here?"

"Wh-what?" Ranma responded. The last question stung. This place was already beginning to feel like a home with Akane and Kasumi here, but Nabiki was right, what reason did she have for staying if she wasn't anyone's fiancée?

Akane once again came through for her. "Cut it out, Nabiki! Just because Ranma didn't turn out to be your knight in shining armor doesn't mean you have to treat her so badly. She's our guest, at least until she and her father can find a place of their own."

"Easy for you to say, Miss 'I hate boys.' You actually WANTED something like this to happen. Well, since you two seem to be getting along so well I suppose all that there's left for me to do is say congratulations on your engagement." Nabiki waved them off cheerfully as she turned to leave, "I hope you enjoy your lives together."

"Why you…you …you PERVERT!"

Nabiki stopped in the doorway. She didn't turn around but said, "That's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it, little sister? I mean, I SAW you in the furo. I have pictures."

"You took pictures of your sister in the furo?" Soun asked on the verge of a demon head.

"Yeah I was in there too. And ya know how she kept fondling my breasts." Ranma added. She really didn't like Nabiki at all. First she treated Ranma like crap, that was bad enough, but her own sister?

"Oh my! That IS perverted!"

Ranma continued. "No offense, Mr. Tendo, but if Nabiki was a guy I would've clocked her good."

"If Nabiki were a boy," Akane simmered, "she'd be DEAD!"

Then Genma said something to Ranma at just the wrong time. "You were in the furo with a girl? Boy, have you not learned your lesson yet?"

"Hey I was a girl at the time!" Ranma winced right afterwards.

This confused Akane out of her anger. "Does your father think you are a boy, Ranma?"

"Uh…yeah." That was true enough.

"Well…I guess that explains the jock straps…" Akane said absently.

Nabiki whirled around, smiling triumphantly "Looks to me like we've got a whole room of perverts. All we need is for Kasumi to bring out her trashy romance novels and we could have a party!"

"Oh my!" Kasumi said, blushing.

"Oh no! It's not like that! Ranma and I were just having an innocent conversation…" Akane tried to cover her error.

"About jockstraps?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow.

"Saotome?" Soun was crying in streams.

"Yes, Tendo?" Genma replied.

"You and your daughter can stay as long as you want. I don't think I can handle this alone."

"Very well, Tendo. I need to speak with my…child and then I'll join you downstairs."

Soun nodded. "Come, children. It's been a while since we've had a Family Discussion. I think we're long overdue." With that he left the room and the Tendo daughters followed.

Akane paused before leaving and said, "I'm sorry I screamed, Ranma, I wasn't thinking it's just…"

"I know…it was your mother's notebook. Ya couldn't help it." Akane nodded and turned to leave. "Akane?" She turned around. "Th- thanks."

"For what?" Akane asked, confused.

"For bein' a friend."

"Oh! You too! And hey if you find anything you think will fit go ahead and borrow it okay? I won't mind." Akane smiled brightly and left.

Now there was only Genma and Ranma.

"I begin to see your reasoning, son…but I still want an explanation. Why are you still a girl?"

Ranma had thought of a million answers to that question since her bath with Akane, but now she knew she could only use one: the complete and utter truth. She told her father everything. How she found Tasuke's restaurant, how Tasuke gave her the vial, how she kept the vial in her pigtail for two weeks while they traveled back to Japan, and how on today the last day the magic infused water in the vial would work she was about to throw it away when she heard Akane outside of the washroom. "…so now I'm stuck like this for six months… maybe even forever. Tasuke-sensei said it USUALLY wasn't permanent."

"I see. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"Aw, come on, Pop. You're always tellin' me how I need ta be more manly and crap and you were givin' me a hard time about leavin' ya all the way to Japan. I wasn't about ta tell ya 'bout somethin' that would keep me a girl."

Genma sighed. "Right. NORMALLY I'd be upset, but…seeing what I saw just now… You acted like a true martial artist today Ranma. You fulfilled a debt of honor to Akane by being there for her and thanking her. Maybe this will be a good thing. Maybe after all this is over…we can go home."

"Huh?" Ranma was stunned. Her father was actually being cool about this! And what was that bit about being able to go home?

"You should know that I'm not at ALL happy about this. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Soun. But what's done is done. Tomorrow morning we spar. Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because of what happened…girl."

Ranma winces "Pops!"

"Why don't you pick something PRETTY to wear," said Genma darkly as he too left the room. Ranma could hear him muttering something about worthless sons as he went down the stairs.

Ranma looked at the clothes in Akane's closet…"The hell with THAT!" Ranma said as she left Akane's room to go to her own. She wasn't about to go through a girl's clothes and she wasn't going to wear some silly dress. Especially not then….

The sports bra and panties though, they were okay.

When Ranma came down the stairs she was wearing her other pants and her yellow shirt with the little red bow. She picked that one because she knew Genma hated it. He explained once that it was something Ranma's mother might have picked out for him. For this reason it became one of Ranma's favorite shirts despite it being a little, well, girly.

The Tendos and Genma were sitting around the low table. Nabiki was trying to explain to her father that the only reason they had a home at all was because of her intricate system of surveillance and bet taking. Soun was having none of it. "I don't care, Nabiki. Selling pornographic pictures of your sister is going too far. No cameras or recording devices for a month and that's final. I'll start accepting students again, maybe get a government job. We don't want your help if you're not going to earn your money responsibly. If I had known about this earlier…"

"You wouldn't have done anything about it." Nabiki accused, "You've been completely worthless ever since Mom died. Admit it! The only reason you're doing something now is you have your buddy here to back you up."

Akane stood up, the area around her tinged with red. "How DARE you call Dad worthless!"

"Sit down please, Akane," Soun said stonily, "Remember…control."

Akane wavered for a few seconds before complying. "Yes, sensei," she said as if agreeing to follow a secret plan.

Ranma wasn't sure what to do. It seemed like the Tendos were having some sort of family crisis…and it seemed like it was her fault. She was just about to get lost when her father spoke up. "Ranma, DAUGHTER, come sit by me." Hesitantly, Ranma did so. She had to keep up appearances at least for now.

If looks could kill, the glare Nabiki gave Ranma would have turned her into dust…shortly after performing a live autopsy… with instruments covered in salt. "What does the jockstrap girl have to do with any of this?"

"Nabiki-chan, Ranma-chan is a guest, and all guests deserve to have a nice family dinner. Would anyone like some tea?" Kasumi got up.

"Kasumi, sit down. No one leaves this table until this matter is settled, even if it means we don't eat tonight. You need to learn not to escape to the kitchen every time something goes wrong." Kasumi sat back down, looking very worried.

"Now," Soun started again, "Nabiki, you should know that you aren't helping your case at all by being so defensive. This isn't like you. It makes me think…the problem may be worse than I know." Soun gave Genma a glance then continued "From now on, there will be some changes that will affect all of you, including you, Ranma. First, I will NOT tolerate anymore perverted behavior from any of you!" Soun calmed down, then spoke again. "Let me clarify. I consider 'perverted behavior' to be any act that exploits some one's body or private possessions without their consent. So far the only one that I know to be perverted here is Nabiki," Soun paused, letting it sink in, "…but I will be watching all of you. Second, as long as Genma and his daughter are staying here I want you to treat them with the respect they're due. Genma is an old friend of mine and I'll not permit his daughter to be alienated from us simply because she's not a boy. Finally, I want Genma to train all of you in Anything goes."

Some words are simply better in other languages. The English word "What" is fine for most circumstances, and it is even ideal for sarcasm, but if you wish to convey absolute shock and dismay the Japanese word is much more appropriate.

"NANI?" Everyone, including Genma exclaimed.

"Since there is no secure heir the pressure is on you, my daughters to teach your children the Art so that someday our schools can be joined. Which reminds me, do you have a boyfriend, Ranma?"

"Um…no," Ranma replied nervously. She wanted to get angry and tell Soun that she was a man and of course she didn't have a boyfriend, but of course, she couldn't do that.

Soun sighed, obviously disappointed. "I'll try not to pressure you too much, but please at least keep the possibility open." Yeah, like that's going to happen. Soun looked at everyone at the table "Now, does anyone have anything to say or ask?" Kasumi raised her hand. "Yes, Kasumi-chan?"

"Does this mean we can date whomever we like now?"

"Yes. Since there's no longer any possibility of you being married to a Saotome…you are free to date whomever you choose."

"Oh my!"

"Tendo-kun?" Genma asked.

"Yes, Saotome-kun?"

"You say you want me to train your daughters…I was wondering what exactly you meant by that."

"Just train them as you have your own daughter. Akane tells me she's quite a bit beyond her in skill, I realize you won't be able to get them to Ranma's level but if you could just teach them enough so that they can represent our school…"

"Whoa! Hold on there! I wouldn't wish Pop's trainin' on my worst enemy! Ya don't know what yer askin for, Mr. Tendo!"

Soun smiled at Ranma, "Yes, your father must have been a good teacher. I'm sure his methods weren't half as strenuous as our master's."

"Oh yeah? Did your 'master' ever tie you up, smear fish paste all over you, and throw you into a pit of starvin' c-cats?"

"No…" Soun admitted glancing at Genma, "he tied us up, covered us with fish paste, and forced us down the throat of a wh-whale with only a rubber hose to give us air. I still have scars from the stomach acid."

"Was that some kind of whale fist trainin' or somethin'?" Ranma asked in disbelief.

"No, we just asked him what whales ate…"replied Genma with a shudder. "We were five at the time."

"Daddy?" Nabiki spoke, "I don't think I'll be participating in the training if you don't mind…"

"No, Nabiki I'm afraid you must. Kasumi and Akane too. I have been too lenient with you all. I've tried to be a good father, but I couldn't ever be a good sensei to you. I think you all need that, but yes, Genma no cats or wh-whales please."

Genma nodded solemnly. The table was silent for a few moments then Nabiki spoke again. "I still don't see how you're going to keep this place running without my help, Daddy. Even if you got a better job and the students started coming in, you would be struggling just to break even…face it, you need me." Nabiki smirked.

Something about Nabiki's smirk smacked of a challenge. Ranma wasn't about to let it go unanswered. "Um…I could work at a restaurant or something, maybe I could pay rent… I got some experience in China…"

"Oh Ranma-chan would make an excellent waitress!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind…" Ranma grumbled sullenly.

"Good. It's settled then. I hereby call this family meeting adjourned. Kasumi, you may start dinner." With that, Nabiki went to her room and Akane followed Kasumi into the kitchen. That left Ranma, Genma and Soun at the table. "Ranma…Genma told us all a story of how you and he went to Jusenkyo." Ranma's eyes went wide. "Genma's always been talented at making a good story. I just want you to know that I tend to believe the first one he told me…" Soun glanced pointedly at Genma "…the one about you being a boy, more. But you are a girl now for whatever reason, and so I will treat you as such, until you prove to me otherwise." Soun stood up. "Genma, I'm going to my room right now. Please keep anyone from coming in until supper's ready." Then Soun walked in his room, and slammed the door shut. Genma sat in front of the door indian-style. After a few moments Ranma thought she could hear wailing coming from inside the room.

"I hope you learned your lesson tonight, girl." Genma said flatly. "And you'd better start looking for that job, right after you go to school tomorrow."

Ranma didn't say anything in protest, she just gulped and nodded. Something bothered her about how her father spoke just then. It wasn't that he insisted she go to school, it wasn't even the almost natural way in which he called her a girl. No, the thing that bothered her is that he was right. She had acted foolishly when she drank the vial. She hadn't thought of how it would affect other people, she had only thought of the consequences to herself, and then only passingly. Furthermore, the implied threat in Genma's voice was not that he would punish her. It was that he would lose all respect for her. Ranma really didn't quite realize these reasons at the time, though. At the time she just felt extremely young and stupid. At the time she just suddenly had the urge to hug her father, or maybe just to cry. Since she'd rather die than do that, she left to see how Akane and Kasumi were doing in the kitchen.

Ranma looks at the vial in her hands back in the furo. It will not break. It was in her hair for two weeks in China and she had been sparring with her father quite a bit during that time, taking quite a few knocks to the head. She turns the vial around in the light. It has a subtle pearlescence, like soapy water. It must be made of some different kind of material…something other than just glass.

Ranma realizes that she can't really bring herself to throw it away. It means something now. Something important. And if she left the vial in the trash, she'd be leaving that…something behind as well.

At least she had a good breakfast this morning. After witnessing first hand how abysmal Akane's skills at cooking are…Ranma is glad to be alive.

"Do you know how to cook, Ranma-chan?" Kasumi said to Ranma when she entered the kitchen. Her voice betrayed her desperation.

"I guess a little." Ranma admitted.

"That's Ranma Saotome for 'I'm a master chef.'" Akane translated with a giggle.

"Well I learned to cook out on the road, and I did work in a restaurant for a while…" Ranma explained a little embarrassed. Cooking was a woman's art, and should only be done if necessary, or so the little Genma in her brain told her. Her father always teased him about it, when he would make meals on the road. But if Ucchan could do so could he, and so he always worked to perfect his methods. After Jusenkyo, he was a little more sensitive about the issue though. "Oh and when I was young I'd help out my friend with his Okonomiyaki making every now and then, but I really wasn't any good."

"Do you think you can cut the vegetables while I help my sister?" Kasumi asked hopefully.

"Sure…I guess. Hey are you going to use your mother's notebook?"

"Um…yes." Kasumi replied nervously picking it up and hugging it to herself possessively.

"So what's so special about it, if ya don't mind me askin'. I mean I know it was your mother's and all but…"

"Come on, show her, Kasumi!" Akane prodded. Hesitantly Kasumi nodded and opened the book in front of Ranma. "Look March 2nd: Cabbage rolls, March 3rd: Stir fry rice, March 4th: Prawns and chili sauce…"

"Wow! She really liked to strap on the ol' feed bag huh!" Ranma could see Akane was not amused, "Er…bad joke, sorry."

Akane smiled slightly. "That's not why its special, baka!'

"Not only are daily menus listed, but she gives tips on picking proper ingredients. The preparation is described in the most…minute…detail. It is only because of this book that I can cook as well as I can." Kasumi explained.

"Oh. That's pretty cool I guess. Why's it so small?"

Kasumi looked a little startled and then gave a smile that seemed a little wider than it should be and said "Who knows?"

"Right. Well, I guess I better get started on those vegetables…" Ranma said moving to the lettuce, tomatoes and other things on the counter. Kasumi was hiding something. Ranma was sure of that… but she was also sure it was none of her business.

She was just about to throw the vegetables in the air to start cutting them in the manner she was accustomed to when Kasumi reminded her to wash them first. Chagrined that she would forget something like that Ranma did so. And then she started, whipping her knife through the air in rapid precise strokes so that the tomatoes would be cut in perfect wedges, the celery in perfect sticks, and that everything would land in the bowl in a symmetrical arrangement. This was the Art. This was what Ranma loved. And when everything landed as it was supposed to and fell into place like pieces in a child's toy…Ranma was truly happy.

Kasumi and Akane clapped enthusiastically. "See, oneechan?" Akane giggled "I told you she was being modest."

"Oh that wasn't cookin' , really. There's this dojo Pop and I went to…specialized in knife and dagger trainin'. They do that sorta thing all the time over there."

"Well, I wish I could do that!" Akane said sincerely.

"Um…I think we should start with something a little more simple, Akane-chan." Kasumi said nervously.

Ranma remembers wondering why Kasumi was so worried. She remembers seeing the disappointment in Akane's eye. She remembers wondering why Akane was acting like a kid finally getting a chance to explore a forbidden section of town. She kept thinking that surely Akane knew how to cook, after all, she was a girl right? Why was it Ranma was the one helping Kasumi and not Akane? But that was before Kasumi tried to teach Akane how to boil water.

Often during traumatic events it seems like time slows down. It was like that with this.

Imagine a scene in slow motion. A Japanese girl, sixteen years old with long black hair tied in a ribbon and wearing a frilly apron over a light red dress lifts her hand up and waves dismissively…up…down..up…She speaks and her voice is low and distorted "Oh I already KNOW how to boil water Kasumi! I don't need the book for that!" Now she takes a coffee mug and slams it down on the range. Vibrations ripple out eerily from the impact point. The mug cracks. "Oh I guess I better tape that up first!" The young girl reaches down to open the cabinet under the sink. There are pots and pans here. "Where's the masking tape, Kasumi?"

An older, more mature looking girl also with long hair stares in horror. "Akane…maybe you should try…a larger container?" She says desperately.

"Oh! I guess you're right!" The young girl, like an eighteen wheeler swerving to avoid a small dog, picks up the largest pot in the cabinet and slams it down on the range. The mug shatters. "Oops! I forgot that was there! I guess I better fill this first huh?"

"Akane-chan, you may want to wash that out, I was using that for the laundry, and it still has some bleach…"

"I'm sure it'll be fine!" The girl smiles as she fills the massive pot (more like a basin really) almost to the top with water. Then she hauls it back and slams it on the range again.

"Hey uh…Akane? Dontcha think that pot's a bit big?"

"Well OBVIOUSLY." The girl says in response. The girl looks at the pot impatiently "Why isn't this boiling? I know!" She finds some stir-fry oil.

"Akane-chan, I don't think…"

The girl pours half the oil out trying to get it underneath the large pot.

"Umm, Akane…Could ya please stop…"

She realizes she hasn't turned the range on yet. She turns on the gas but nothing seems to happen. You start to tense up as it seems you are the only one that hears the tiny hissing sound.

"Akane?"

The girl, after looking perplexed for way too long smiles and presses the little red button…

There's something strangely beautiful about an explosion. The colorful folds of fire rush toward you like an exotic flower, and it makes you think of your childhood, that time you did such and such with so and so and one or both of you did something incredibly stupid. It makes you think of growing up, and all the lessons you learned along the way. You think of all things you could have said to all the people you never paid much attention to before to make them like you or get them pissed off properly. You think of all these things and before you know it, your life is flashing before your eyes. If you're lucky, you're someone with swift reflexes and all this is going on while you are throwing yourself down to the floor.

Ranma considered herself extremely lucky.

She managed to bring Akane down with her, and Kasumi was already huddled in the far corner of the room so she was safe. After the initial explosion there remained the tiny problem of the oil blazing all over the stovetop. Ranma learned then that water doesn't work that well against that type of fire. Akane learned that neither does Chlorox. Kasumi ended up saving the day with a few bags of salt. All of the damage was pretty much localized around the stove and sink area and it wasn't that extensive, still Kasumi was visibly shaken from the whole ordeal so Ranma offered to cook the rest of the meal outside. Kasumi relented and that night the Tendos and Saotomes ate around a fire in their backyard. The police, as Ranma found out later, called after a bit, but they were lenient and just told Mr. Tendo not to make a fire again without a permit.

Everyone was impressed with how good the food was. Open fire cooking usually consists of boiling water for rice and sticking fish or some other animal on a sharpened sticks and burning it thoroughly. Ranma managed, from sheer trial and error experience, to cook a meal that was not only edible but good. It was barbecue, Japanese style.

"Saotome," Soun declared, "Your daughter will have no problem finding a husband."

"She's my little princess." Genma deadpanned. Ranma kicked him into the pond. After a good ten-minute spar, which provided entertainment for the Tendos. Ranma sat down between Akane and Kasumi a little winded.

"That was a very nice meal, Ranma-chan, I never knew you could do that on an open flame."

"Yeah, the trick is ta keep the ashes from gettin' inta the food. Then ya gotta keep everythin' movin' 'cause otherwise ya get charcoal..."

Akane was crying

"What's wrong Akane?" Ranma asked. She couldn't stand it when girls cried.

"I'm so sorry Ranma! I just wanted to help out, and I ended up almost k-killing everyone."

"Uh...heh heh, that's alright Akane. I mean so what if you can't cook?" Ranma tried to make Akane feel better but the explosion was still fresh on her mind.

"I can cook just fine!" Akane replied angrily.

"You're...jokin' right?" Ranma asked confused "You can't even boil water, and that's pretty basic..."

"Ranma NO BAKA!" Akane got up and ran into the house.

Ranma followed her. Akane stopped in front of the kitchen. "Akane, I..."

"Don't come near me!" She said as she swung her leg toward Ranma's head in a hook kick.

Ranma dodged and used both her hands to push the leg away, causing Akane to get slightly off balance. Ranma then used her momentum to throw a spinning side kick to Akane's sternum knocking her to the floor. "C'mon, Akane, this is stupid. If ya wanna spar let's go over ta the dojo or somethin'." Ranma offered Akane a hand up.

Akane sat up but didn't accept the hand. Instead she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, "You don't understand!"

Ranma kept her hand out in the same position for a moment or two and then, realizing it wasn't going to be that easy, retracted it and sat down next to Akane on the floor. "This is about yer cooking...ain't it."

Akane nodded.

"Aw jeez, Akane! That ain't nothin' ta get upset about! I mean your sister said even she couldn't boil water at one time, and that's what the notebook starts out with so your mother musta had the same problem. Ya just need some practice or somethin'" Ranma had an idea, "Hey ya want some tea? Then ya can watch me while I do it and then you can try."

"Okay," Akane agreed quietly.

Ranma got up and prepared the tea, making sure her movements were slow and precise. When it was ready she gave Akane a cup. "You think you can do that now?"

"Sure. Looks easy!"

"I'll just go ahead pour then okay?"

"Uh sure."

Ranma poured until the cup was filled to the brim...and then she poured some more.

"Hey! OW! Stop pouring, baka!"

Ranma stopped. "Do ya get it? It's one of those hot water thingies."

"Huh?"

"Your father never told you 'bout this? Okay, well see the cup's like hot water for your brain, and the tea, well that's hot water for knowledge..."

Akane blinked and hit her palm with her fist in realization. "Oh you mean 'metaphor'!" The japanese word for metaphor is "hiyu," and Ranma was saying "oyu," the Japanese word for hot water.

"Uh...yeah, that's what I said ain't it? Anyway your brain gets filled up with knowledge right? Kinda like that cup gets filled with tea. So after a while new knowledge can't get in. It spills all over the place and makes a big mess."

"Okay, so what?"

"Well ya see if ya wanna learn somethin' ya gotta empty your cup."

"Won't I lose the knowledge then?"

"That's just it, ya see once you drink the tea it becomes a part of you right? Same with the knowledge. Get it out of your brain, pretend like its not there and then it just sorta becomes part of ya and you can learn somethin' else."

"So... basically you're saying that I shouldn't think I know something, when in fact I don't."

"Uh...yeah, that's about it. There's always somethin' ya don't know. And if ya just remember that you can perfect whatever it is yer doin'."

Akane drank her tea.

"So... ya think ya can boil water now?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know... but I'd like to try." Akane smiled.

"Right, let's try out that notebook okay?"

Akane nodded. Reading from the notebook and with Ranma's guidance Akane went through all the steps for boiling water. And when the teapot let out a loud shrill whistle... Akane hugged Ranma and started crying all over again.

"Um...urgh...Akane!...I...can't breathe!"

"Oh sorry!" Akane released Ranma and wiped her eyes. "It's just..." Akane carefully took the teapot off the burner and turned the stove off. "Ranma do you think you could be my sensei?"

"Jeez... I don't know maybe. I've never done anythin' like that before..."

"Come on Ranma, you just did! No one's been able to teach me like that!"

"But your father wants Pops ta train ya..."

"But my dad and your dad are both men!"

Ranma wasn't sure how to deal with that one. "Er... Akane, there's somethin' ya oughta know..."

"I know! How about you train me in cooking and the Art, and I'll teach you how do be more of a girl, deal?"

"Um...okay?"

"Great! This'll be fun!"

"Yeah...but really I gotta let you know somethin'" Ranma couldn't keep the truth from Akane. It just wasn't right.

"What is it?"

"Well ya see, I'm really a guy." There. The truth was out. Ranma looked at Akane to see what her reaction was.

Akane laughed "I'll say! I've got my work cut out for me!"

That wasn't quite what Ranma was looking for. "Er...no you don't understand...ya see I was with Pop at Jusenkyo..."

"Oh your dad told us all about that. Weird that the panda water would make him think you were a boy, but I guess it isn't that weird considering that it... well turned him into a panda."

Ranma gave up. She just hoped Akane didn't hate her when she found out. She yawned and looked at the clock on the wall. "Jeez, it's kinda late, ain't it?"

"You're right! And tomorrow's your first day at school!"

"GROWF Groww!" Comes through the door. Ranma has spent a little longer in here than she ought to. She sighs. If she doesn't leave soon, she'll be late to school. And she'll be going to school as a girl. She really REALLY shouldn't have drank what was in the vial. If she throws it away though, she'll be giving up somehow. The vial is some sort of challenge. Can Ranma get through six months of this? What if it's permanent?

This morning, sparring Pops she'd almost forgotten her troubles. And then he called her a girl again and kicked her into the pond and it all came back. She didn't retaliate just then, she just sat in the cold water feeling defeated. Her father was still better than her even after the ten years of training and with Ranma's benefit of youth. When her father realized his jibes weren't having the same effect as they usually did he slunk off to breakfast. For almost a minute she sat there, thinking. She sat there as the koi swam around her and tried to come to terms with the sick feeling she felt in her heart. She wasn't sure what it was exactly. Maybe it was that so many things that were certain were now unknown. Maybe it was that she was frightened of what was coming, or maybe it was just that at that time Ranma Saotome felt very much like a girl. Whatever it was she shook it off, walked into the house, kicked her father into the pond and sat down for breakfast.

Ranma ties the vial back into her pigtail. She isn't beaten yet. She'll beat her father soon, whatever sex she is. Besides she's a sensei now, she has a responsibility to her student to be the best. She has responsibility to herself. She gets up out of the furo and dries off.

Ranma Saotome never loses.

~~~~~End of Chapter 2~~~~~

Author Notes:

This was a chapter that would not die. I liked writing it but boy am I glad its done. I tried to keep everyone in character but if anyones OOC then I blame it on the idea monster that lives in my brain. He can be a royal pain sometimes, demanding scenes that would never happen in the anime and what not.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. In particular Nemesis Zero who gave me an idea of how to start the sucker when he complained about the vial. Now the thing's going to be in the whole fic

5/10/10

A reviewer (Random832) called a scene in this chapter to my attention so I made some changes to it. I've also made a few minor corrections here and there. The overall plot of the chapter was not affected. Thanks, Random832, for the catch!


	3. Oyu no Genma

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfic by Zorknot

Chapter 2: Oyu no Genma

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ranma1/2. This fic is based on the comics by Rumiko Takahashi (published by Viz Comics) and on the TV anime series produced by Hidenori Taga and directed by Tomomitsu Mochizuki with music by Eiji Mori and character design by Atsuko Nakajima. The director of photography for the series was Mitsunobu Yoshida, and it was produced by Fuji TV and Kitty Film. The executive producer for the Viz Video release of the series was Seiji Horibuchi, the production coordinators were Toshifume Yoshida who translated and Trish Ledoux, who also wrote the English screenplay and lyrics. These people shall heretofore be referred to as "The army of the undead"

WHAT HAS COME BEFORE: Ranma heard Akane before she opened the door on him in the bath and drank a potion that locked him in girl form. They took a bath together, Nabiki took some pictures, one thing led to another and now Genma is supposed to train the Tendo daughters in Anything Goes, Ranma is supposed to teach Akane how to cook among other things, and Akane is supposed to teach Ranma to be more of a girl. Later, Soun will dive fourteen stories into a tiny glass of water...

~~~~~[BEGIN]~~~~~

The men at the public bathhouse are silent as they watch a panda walk alongside a man with shoulder length black hair and an impressive mustache. The few who continue to talk join the others in astonishment as they see the panda, after stepping into the bath, turn almost instantly into a bald man of stout stature and serious demeanor.

"I really wish you would stop practicing that MAGIC TRICK, Saotome," the mustachioed man admonishes his companion loudly while handing him some low-tech sports glasses. "It never fails to attract UNWANTED attention."

The stout, bald, man takes the glasses and shoves his ears through the wire loops of the earpieces. He remains silent as he takes the extra towel that his friend is carrying and wraps it around his waist. Then he takes a bandana and ties it on his head. Finally, sitting down in the hot water, he speaks through a sigh as his friend joins him. "I know, Tendo, but I just can't help myself."

The other men at the bath hold various expressions of confusion, amazement, and mirth and then start talking again, returning the gurgling of background conversation back to its previous levels.

The two men are, of course, Tendo Soun and Saotome Genma. They are here because the hot water at the Tendo home is out, and Kasumi is using the range to cook supper. Rather than build another fire out in the backyard, they both opted to enjoy themselves in this modest, yet well run establishment. The reason why they, and in particular, Genma are seeking hot water is that Ranma, tired of Genma's lecturing, doused Genma with a bucket of water, turning him into a panda. Since nothing in the evolutionary history of pandas equipped the animals for giving passionate lectures on the finer points of the Art, Genma had to end his talk a little early. And he still has one or two things to say to his son turned daughter.

Genma tries to think. Where exactly did he go wrong? Was it leaving Nodoka? Was it the training...the Nekoken? Or does Ranma's rebelliousness stem from Jusenkyo? Could it be...that the boy really is turning into a girl? What if that blasted potion made the curse permanent? Genma shakes his head free of these fears. I must focus, he cautions himself, a martial artist must deal only in the now, not in the to be or has been...

"You know," Soun speaks, interrupting Genma's chain of thought, "I'm really a terrible father."

Genma turns his head in surprise: "Don't be ridiculous, Tendo! Your daughters are fine young women!"

"I know, Saotome. It amazes me everyday. I swear that every bit of good that they have in them must have come from..." Soun trails off as his eyes mist over, "but she was...in their lives such a short time. So short..." Soun starts weeping freely.

Genma places a firm calloused hand on his friend's shoulder. "Tendo, I was there last night. You handled that situation admirably. I don't know what I would have done... If any of us is a bad father...it's me."

Soun wipes the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. "Saotome, you've gone through a lot. It can't have been easy to be a father while dealing with a strange curse." Soun splashes his face with the bath water and sighs. "I suppose it's pointless worrying about whether we're good fathers or not...it would be great if it were like the Art, where you can practice...and learn...and become better, and be good or bad, but parenthood... It's a tough lesson for me, but I'm learning...it's not at all the same thing."

Genma releases Soun's shoulder and rubs his forehead and temples slowly, "I know what you mean, Tendo. I tried to raise Ranma differently from how the Master raised us..." Genma lifts his hand from his head and gazes at the lines in his palm, "but I ended up just doing the same things. I tried to train Ranma to be the best. I wanted the big prize. I wanted to win the parent game." Genma's hand becomes a fist, "Tendo, my friend, I can't help feeling that I failed." The hand drops into the water with a splash and Genma looks away.

"Mm hm. Mm hm," Soun nods sagely, "I felt exactly the same way when Kasumi was Ranma's age."

"But, Tendo! Kasumi is a marvelous young woman!"

"Yes, yes, but then, so is Ranma." Genma winces painfully, Soun continues, "We don't see the good things do we, Saotome? We only see the things that need improvement- the weaknesses that must become strengths...meanwhile our children have lives of their own, problems that we never had to deal with." Soun locks eyes with Genma "Kasumi was going to be the heir to the school."

Genma sinks deeper into the water. "I see."

Soun nods, "For seven years after... For seven years I barely practiced the Art at all. I would do some basic katas, meditate...but not much else. On Kasumi's sixteenth birthday I realized that if I wanted the school to continue, I had to train my daughters. But it was too late." Soun is silent for a moment as he looks at the men's locker room forlornly. Then he turns back around and settles against the wall of the public bath. "I need a cigarette."

"Nasty habit," Genma says idly, a little shocked. It is in truth one of the worst habits for a martial artist to get into, air being so essential to the Art. The Master found a way around it, but then he found a way around everything. He'll probably find a way around the three-meter thick wall of rock that Genma and Soun imprisoned him in. The thought makes Genma shiver, even in the steaming water.

Soun gives Genma a sad smile. "I know. It was either smoking or razor blades. I figured smoking would be easier on the kids." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so morbid. It's not that bad now. Now it mostly just helps me forget... You know what she said to me? My eldest daughter?"

Genma shakes his head though he has a pretty good idea.

"She told me that the Art was too violent, and that it was useless and that she wanted no part in it. My life! And she dismisses it as some cruel boyish game. I was devastated! Then Nabiki, at fourteen, asks me why she couldn't just carry a loaded gun instead! Only Akane was interested in training again, and I think she only wanted to please me. Now she has this 'I hate boys' thing stuck in her head. Saotome, old friend, I don't think a single one of them understands. That's all I'm asking you to do. Make them understand."

Genma shakes his head again "Tendo, I have been trying to get Ranma to do that for ten years. The boy still sees it mostly as a way to show off."

One of Soun's black eyebrows arches up. "The boy...Saotome, what really happened to Ranma? Why doesn't she...he change like you?"

Genma sighs, "He drank some damn fool potion in the furo right after we got here. He says it might even be permanent. I think being a girl for awhile might be good for him. Knock his cockiness down a bit anyway. But I don't think I could handle Ranma being my... daughter forever. I wish we could go home, but Nodoka...she let us leave only under some...severe... conditions. She was out of her mind when I left her, and I'm not sure how much better she is now."

"Yes," Soun nodded. "I think in her own way she loved her as much as I did."

~~~~~.~~~~~

Genma remembers the night Nodoka went insane. She had gotten a letter...or maybe it was something in the newspaper or a magazine...whatever it was, it pushed her over the edge. She started screaming that Ranma was a man... that "they" couldn't take Ranma away. That "they" had no right. When Genma asked who "they" were Nodoka yelled "Help. HELP!" Genma embraced her and said he was trying to help, but she was hysterical and adrenaline pumping through her, she threw Genma to the ground and screamed "You don't understand!" Then she ran to the dojo and got out the sword. She was going to kill Ranma rather than allow him to be taken. Luckily Genma stopped her in time.

After Genma wrenched the sword from her grasp, she ran screaming into the boy's room. She started packing things into a back pack. "Why are you doing this?" Genma remembers asking.

"Take, him, Genma Leave! Go! Don't let them get him! You must make him a man! More than a man...a man's man, a man among men! Maybe they won't find him then. Maybe he'll be safe. But you have to promise me! In writing! You got to promise..."

She went on like that until finally, exasperated, Genma wrote up the contract, and signed it. Ranma, of course, didn't know that the hand prints he patted on the paper would resign him to ten years on the road. At five, he still thought his Dad knew everything and that Mom knew more.

That night was the last Genma saw of Nodoka.

It was only a few days after the death of Kimiko, the woman who was Soun's wife and Nodoka's best friend.

~~~~~.~~~~~

"So many terrible things happened that year," Genma says above the echo of Nodoka's screams "what is the English expression? 'When it rains, it pours?'"

"Mmm hmm. Tragedies never happen when you want them to...She was so perfect, Saotome. She was a lot of things for a lot of people...but she was everything to me."

Genma looked down through the steaming water to the tiled floor of the bath. "I wish I knew her better before..."

"She was amazing, Saotome. She could do anything...and she did! And she did it with a smile and a carefree attitude. It's odd, but Ranma reminds me of her a little bit..."

Genma finds himself imagining Ranma grown up and a woman. He doesn't like it. Still even as he pushes the picture away disgustedly, he can almost see now why Soun and Nodoka were so affected when Kimiko passed. There's something about Ranma...some spark of life that persisted even through Genma's many mistakes, and Genma made quite a few... "You know I still have a weakness for food, Tendo. I never got over it. I know a lot of it was the master's fault, but still, it's no excuse for what I did."

"What did you do, my friend?" Soun asks, relieved for the change in subject but still grim.

"I..." Genma falters. He realizes that Soun won't take the information he is about to reveal well. However, seeing as the engagement is thrown into doubt now anyway, he decides to continue. "I sold Ranma. Countless times. For food. For FOOD! I engaged him to so many girls...and even one or two boys..."

Soun's expression darkens for a bit, but then his features relax into weary sadness. "It's okay, my friend...I know how you get when you're hungry. You had to do it or someone might have died..."

Genma remembers the master's training...

~~~~~.~~~~~

"In order to progress in the Art," the old, lecherous midget had said blowing smoke rings from his pipe into the air, "you must find your weakness. You must come to terms with the thing that could bring you down unequivocally. You must find this, and make it your strength. Do you know your weakness, Genma my boy?"

"Food?" Genma, Ranma's age at the time, had answered.

"Yes. Do you know how we're going to make it you're strength?"

"No..."

Happosai cackled evilly, "You're going on a diet, pudge boy!"

For four long years the demonic old man made Genma train and fast. He dangled a roasted chicken just out of Genma's reach, making Genma fight him for it, only he would never let Genma near it and would later eat it himself with exaggerated gusto. Whenever Genma passed out, and he did often, Happosai would toss him over a cliff into the icy waters of the Pacific. Soun would have to fish him out then usually, something he hated to do, because there were whales in the ocean...

After the first month, Genma began stealing food. He developed the Umisenken almost accidentally from trying to sneak past Happosai. The first time he had managed it, Genma was so surprised he made it past the unearthly munchkin he almost blew it. Once he realized he had found a technique he developed it and the Yamasenken in secret, over a period of three years. Genma was sure that Happosai would figure out the technique if he performed it too many times; so he only saved it for a last resort. It was therefore not enough to keep the training from affecting him.

One night Genma had managed to sneak past Happosai and into a small town. He broke into a modest marketplace and was picking out what he was going to eat when the owner, an Asagiri Genji, confronted him. With a shotgun. Something clicked just then...something other than the re-chambering of the shotgun, though it was just as ominous.

Genma still doesn't remember what happened. He woke up in a jail cell covered in dried blood. It was not his own. He was aware of a familiar metallic taste on his tongue...

It wasn't the first time Genma had had a blackout. He was so malnourished after the first year that there'd be many times his memory completely failed him and he had no idea what he had been doing. Often this happened during training, or when he was running or basically doing anything he didn't have the energy for. He never wound up in quite this situation though.

Happosai came with Soun shortly after Genma woke up. The midget had a wide smile on his face. Soun's face, by contrast, was ashen, and he seemed almost scared of his long time friend. "You did it, boy!" Happosai exclaimed, "You learned a new technique! Now I can stop watching your sorry ass all the time!"

Genma stiffened. He thought Happosai had found out about the Umisenken and Yamasenken. "Wh- what do you mean?" Genma was still a little groggy and, he was just realizing, his stomach was upset. A wicked gurgling illustrated this last fact further. His stomach wasn't just upset, it was furious.

"You're a fool if you don't know what I'm talking about," the master declared. The white metal bars rolled to the side and Genma shuffled out holding his stomach. There were some forms that had to be signed that Genma was dimly aware of, some questions which he answered without much thought, and then he was outside, the noonday sun blinding after the fluorescent pallor of the jail.

Happosai bounced off ahead of Genma and Soun. Soun picked his pace up making Genma walk faster to keep up with him, something his stomach didn't like one bit. Finally he couldn't take it. He grabbed Soun's shoulder. He could feel Soun stiffen. When he turned around his eyes were wide. "What happened, Tendo?" Genma asked.

"You... that man..." Soun was eighteen then, almost a year younger than Genma. He didn't have a mustache, just a thin layer of stubble. His hair was in a simple ponytail instead of falling to his shoulders regally the way it does now. His muscles and gracefulness barely saved him from looking like an awkward, gangly teen. When he spoke to Genma then, he looked even younger. He was at that moment a small boy, on the verge of tears, who had just seen something truly terrible.

He had seen the writhing, twisted body of Asagiri Genji. Three ribs were fractured, one of them poking through the man's lung. The left forearm was broken in a greenstick fracture, one of the bones protruding out of the skin. The left leg didn't have a foot so much as a battered mush. The right leg was bent the wrong way, the kneecap shattered. As for the right arm it was obscenely dislocated and...a huge chunk was bitten out of it.

It was sitting in Genma's stomach.

When Soun saw Genji, the paramedics were trying to figure out how to remove the shotgun wrapped around the man's neck.

~~~~~.~~~~~

Back in the public bath, Genma shakes his head. "You know it never happened again. In all this time...not once."

"Saotome... would you really want to risk it? Especially with your child with you?"

"No...and I'd like to think that was why I sold Ranma. To get him away from me while I found something to eat, but when I get hungry...Tendo I just don't think about anyone but myself."

Soun nods. After an uncomfortable silence Soun straightens up and takes a breath. "So...how's the training going?"

Genma smiled slightly, "I forgot just how much fun being a sensei could be..."

~~~~~.~~~~~

That morning after breakfast, Genma prepared Ranma's book bag for school, which is to say he put paper and pencils in it along with a book of martial arts techniques. When he approached Ranma with the school bag, she...as of course Ranma was female and would be for awhile... took it with solemnity but no fuss. "You're okay with this, son?"

Ranma sighed, "Yeah, I guess so. I mean even you can be right once in awhile. I was real stupid. Now I just gotta make up for it..."

"But you hate school."

"Yeah, I do, but I've done it before."

"Not as a girl."

Ranma turned toward Genma "Pops, do you _want_ me to kick your ass? 'Cuz I will you know."

Just then Nabiki passed them both in her school uniform. She smiled as she passed Ranma "You'll be going to the same school as Akane and me. See ya there!"

"Nabiki!" Akane called from inside "Wait! We'll go with you!"

Nabiki stopped on the porch and turned to say "_What _are you _talking _about? I wouldn't want to come between you and Ranma. After all she's _your_ fiancée."

Genma felt a rush of heat come out of the door followed shortly by Akane wielding the dining room table as a weapon with startling effectiveness "NABIKI NO BAKA!"

"Just what are you planning to do, little sister? Hit me? Hmm...that doesn't sound like something Daddy would approve of..."

Genma wasn't sure if it was just his child's presence that was causing this or if it happened all the time, but his friend had entrusted both Nabiki's and Akane's training to him, and he for one could not stand this any longer. "STOP!" He bellowed.

He was always rather proud of his deep, resonating, voice. He always thought that was his best feature, which was one of the reasons he incorporated it into the Yamasenken. Genma fought down the sudden urge to steal something and spoke as calmly and evenly as he could. "My friend, your father, has given both you girls over to me as students. As your sensei, I expressly forbid any more of this nonsense. Akane, you will not, under any circumstances attack Nabiki outside of training. She, as I understand it, is not as skilled as you, and you should never attack the weak..."

Akane grew defensive. "I KNOW that, Uncle, but..."

"I am your SENSEI!"

"No you're not! Ran..." Akane nodded her head at Ranma, who was waving her hands and shaking her head, her face wide eyed and mouthing the word "no."

Akane relaxed, carrying the table with the top of her head now rather than her arms, "Yes, sensei." With that, she sullenly returned the table to its previous place in the dining room, and came back outside.

Genma grunted in approval and turned toward Nabiki. "And Nabiki, I want to make this perfectly clear. There..." Genma had to fight to say the next words "is no engagement. We are here because I am friends with your father and we intend to pay our way. Your comments about your sister show a lack of honor unbecoming of a Tendo. I don't know what you've been able to get away with in the past, but as long as you're in my sight..." Genma stepped up to Nabiki letting his girth and height become more apparent to the girl. He looked down at her head. She wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were on the koi pond. Genma took the collar of her blouse and shook. Now Nabiki's eyes were wide. Now she was paying attention. "As long as you're in my sight you are MINE!" Genma released Nabiki. "I answer to your father and no one else on this matter. If you have a problem, discuss it with him."

"Jeez, Pops, you're laying it on a little thick ain't ya?" Ranma spoke out of the corner of her mouth, "I mean, she was only teasing, right?"

Genma came within a breath of striking his own son in anger. It was true that Genma often struck his son in anger, but as much as it would make him feel better, and even though he wouldn't hit near full force, it would eventually lead to Ranma kicking him into the pond and Genma being a panda, which really wouldn't gain him any respect as a sensei. Genma took that breath. He decided to exploit the teacher/student situation a little further. "Are you challenging me, Ranma?"

Ranma's eyes went wide again. "No, Pops! Just... makin a comment is all."

Genma nodded. He wondered why he hadn't tried that earlier...in China. But of course he knew the reason. Guilt. Guilt and exhaustion. Genma turned to Nabiki with a grim expression. "If it were only teasing I would not take offense. But you seem to think my s- daughter and your _own sister_ are not fit to walk with you."

"Hey, yeah! Where do you get off bein so high and mighty?" Ranma added.

"High and mighty? Me? I would never _dream_ of acting that way. I was simply allowing you and my little sister some privacy." Nabiki rebuked with a smirk.

"A martial artist must learn humility," Genma continued, "For sometimes he must look at an opponent's feet, before he...or she...can know where they stand."

Akane smiled and bowed nervously, "Uncle...I mean, Sensei, I don't mean to be rude but it's Ranma's first day and we really ought to be early..."

"Fine. You may leave."

They all prepared to make a run for it.

"But you leave together." They froze comically just before their first step. "Holding hands."

"Aw man! I don't wanna hold anyone's _hand_!" Ranma pouted.

"Um...Unc- Sensei? That's going to slow us down quite a bit..."Akane noted.

"I can't believe this!" Nabiki exclaimed.

Genma smiled, and tilted his head, causing the sun to glare off his glasses. "Consider it training."

~~~~~.~~~~~

After Genma recounts this much to his friend, Soun laughs. "I must say, Saotome; that was genius." Soun slaps Genma on the back.

"Yes, well I shouldn't have blown up at Nabiki like that..."

"No, my friend, I think that's exactly what you should have done." Soun takes the small towelette off his head and soaks it in the furo water. "I have been too lenient on them all I think. I can't stand hurting them, you understand. Before...she would always be the disciplinarian, when she... left...I just couldn't do it. It wasn't in me." Soun folds the towel back and puts it on his head, "Saotome, to be able to raise your child the way you did, to be her sensei as well as her father- I think it takes a special kind of love, a love mixed with courage... and faith."

Genma's eyes mist over as he remembers his son, tied up and covered with fishcakes. He remembers how he felt then. He was going to do it! He was going to make his son a man among men! Ranma would learn this technique and become the best martial artist in the world. Then they could go home... back to Nodoka. Ranma was progressing so quickly, he was so good already, Genma just wanted to yell out how proud of him he was, how much he loved him, but he kept it inside. He had to make Ranma strong. After he learned this technique...maybe he could be a father for a little while. He would get Ranma a nice big sundae; maybe take him to a movie...

Keeping his excitement to himself, Genma pushed Ranma into the pit...

~~~~~.~~~~~

"It's a stupid kind of love, Tendo," Genma says solemnly wiping at the tears behind his glasses, "I should have stayed, got help for Nodoka...at least then Ranma would have had a home..."

"Saotome, you did what you thought was right. Besides," Soun crosses his arms resolutely, "she has a home now."

"Yes," Genma says looking at his friend with new respect. The worried, naïve teenager is still in there, but now only within a strong, solid, and mature, if maybe a little sad outer casing. The past ten years have changed Soun. And they have changed Genma as well. "Thank you, Tendo. Maybe Ranma does have a home now...he and Nabiki are even getting along a little better."

"Oh? That's right. You hadn't finished telling me how today went... What did you find out at school?" Soun's face was serious.

"You knew I snuck out after them?" Genma asks, surprised.

"Yes. I watched you after the girls left for school... I only saw you do what you did one time before...when we defeated the master."

Genma slapped a hand on his forehead "You saw me start the technique."

"You told me you were never going to use the Umisenken again. That it was sealed as tightly as the old master."

"Yes, well...a couple times on the road I came pretty close to starving, and today...I just wanted to make sure the boy didn't do anything stupid."

"Saotome, if the technique is not sealed, then you must teach it to me. If the schools are to be joined their must be no secrets between them."

"Tendo, some things should not be taught. The 'Sea of a Thousand Fists' is one of them."

"I'm not suggesting you give away your secrets to anyone who gives you shelter..."

Genma grimaces. He doesn't know what he was thinking when he gave that scroll to Kumon...

"You did give the Umisenken away, didn't you," Soun crossed his arms.

"No..."

Soun's head turns purple and grows enormous. Steam shoots out of Soun's ears and his tongue flickers snake like out of his mouth. "DON'T LIE TO ME, SAOTOME!"

Genma stammers for a moment unable to speak, he forgot about his friend's demon head. Genma can see where Akane must have got her temper. "I...I...assure I am not lying, my friend. I did not give away the Umisenken..."

Soun's head retracts to normal size.

"I gave away the Yamasenken."

"You have ANOTHER secret technique?...And you gave it away?"

"I was hungry..."

"Yes, of course you were." Soun sighs. "Forgive me, Saotome...your secrets are your own to keep or give away as you please. It's just frustrating...you were always the master's favorite..."

"Be glad of that, my friend. I would not wish his attentions on the wickedest of oni..."

"True...So why did you ran around town using a secret invisibility technique if I may ask?"

"Ranma hasn't been in school for almost two years. And now he's going as a girl..."

"You were worried."

"Yes, I was worried. I still am."

"So...what happened?""

Genma smiles, remembering. "Yes, well, as you know I love eavesdropping on people. Especially when they're talking about me..."

~~~~~.~~~~~

Genma walked, unseen, by the three girls holding hands. He was closest to Nabiki, and as she said some rather un-nice things about him he couldn't help but make the occasional face at her. She seemed to get angrier as time wore on though. Genma was worried he might have to step in...

"You don't understand, Nabiki." Ranma explained, her left hand tightly holding Nabiki's right as the middle Tendo daughter tried to jerk her arm free. "Pops'll know if ya stop holdin my hand. Believe me. Ore don't know how he does it, it's almost like he's got a technique that turns him invisible or somethin, but just when ya think you're free of him, he runs up ta ya out of nowhere ta give ya a lecture about somethin ya just did that was wrong. Most the time, its just annoyin...but you get him mad and he's the sensei from Hell."

"Ranma, you used 'Ore' again," Akane admonished.

"Um...Ore did? Ore mean... Atashi did? Whoops"

Akane had been trying to make Ranma speak more like a girl with little success. Genma was rather disturbed by the situation, but he could see the practicality of it.

"Well, you see, Saotome," Nabiki said, ignoring Ranma and Akane's repartee, "that's where the threat falls apart. Watashi am not that man's student. Watashi do not take orders from a panda." With that she tugged again, trying to pull her hand free and failing.

Genma was worried. How could he deal with this? If Nabiki truly didn't want to learn from him there was no way to make her...

"Hey wait a minute, Akane. Nabiki uses 'Watashi' Why can't Ore use 'Watashi'?"

Akane was thoughtful for a moment. "You could... But you're so unfeminine really you need to use 'Atashi' to make up for it."

"Hello? You're hurting my hand, Saotome! Let go." Nabiki said, trying a different tactic.

"Hmm? But Ore was holdin it tight 'cause you kept tryin ta break free."

Akane lightly kicked the back of Ranma's calf. "Ranma you used 'Ore' again."

"Oops."

"Look just because you two get a big kick out of holding each other's hands, doesn't mean I have to participate. Let. Me. GO." Genma hadn't realized how calm and composed Nabiki actually was until she started raising her voice.

"Sorry, Nabiki, if ya wanna get free, you're gonna have to fight me," Ranma smiled. There was silence for awhile as the girls and Genma walked. Finally Ranma spoke again. "You know, Nabiki, ever since Ore got here...er ever since Atashi got here you've molested me, insulted me, insulted Akane, Kasumi, even your own dad. You've taken pictures of me'n Akane naked, and now you wanna break your promise to your father by not doin what Pops asked. What's your beef exactly? Is it me? Why do Ore...why do Atashi piss you off so much?"

"Honestly, Nabiki," Akane added with a frown, "Ranma's right. You've been acting terrible ever since she got here. Is this still about Ranma not being a boy? Did you want to get engaged that badly?"

Nabiki looked stunned for a moment...and then chuckled sardonically. "You think this is about that? Do you have any idea, little sister, what I have to go through just to make sure we still have a roof over our heads the next day?"

"Nabiki," Akane responded, "I know you do a lot but-"

"You don't know the half of it, Akane-chan." Nabiki interrupted. She held out her free hand as if holding a ball. "There is so much information, Akane. Information that I...that we ALL need in order to survive. All sorts of threads tangled up in this mass that only I seem to be able to comprehend. I have to pull them Akane, I have to pull these threads, make the ball tighter, compact. And I have to be careful because one wrong pull, one thread out of place...and the whole thing can unravel." She dropped her hand to her side, dramatically letting the ball fall apart. "If I had more money though..."

"Look, Ore don't see why Ore can't use Watashi if Ore want to. If Atashi want to. If Watashi want to!" Ranma was starting to get a little flustered, "Ore...Watashi mean...Nabiki ain't exactly a Japanese princess or nothin and she musta used 'Watashi' like forty times just then."

"Do you care at all about what I said, Saotome, or were you just counting up all the 'Watashi's?"

"Um...yeah sure. That was hot water for something, right?"

"'Metaphor', Ranma," Akane supplied, "and if you want to be a perverted, vengeful girl who scares everyone that knows her, by all means use 'Watashi'" Akane's free hand was clenched in a fist and she seemed to stomp more than walk. Apparently Akane still had some issues with her older sister.

"Good point," Ranma conceded. She seemed taken aback, and Genma didn't blame her. She was coming very close to having two women mad at her.

"And Nabiki," Akane added, "if you just wanted a fiancé for money why didn't you go after Kuno?"

"Who's Kuno?" Ranma asked.

"Oh he's a rich idiot upperclassman from school," Akane answered with a wave of her free hand, "Carries a stick and harasses me. Addresses himself as 'Boku'"

"Oh." Ranma frowned for a moment. "So Ore... Atashi can't use 'Boku' either?"

"I did go out with Kuno." Nabiki stated coldly before Akane could respond. "Once. You probably don't remember. It was near the end of last school year. You were outside practicing and Kuno drove up in a limousine." Nabiki stepped in front of Ranma so she could address Akane more directly. "A limo, Akane!" Nabiki looked away towards a small pothole in the road as she fell back in line. "That was the night he first confessed his undying love for you."

An awkward pause, then Akane spoke. "You had something to do with the boys at school didn't you Nabiki." It was not a question.

"The boys at school?" Ranma asked.

"You know that weight set you got for your birthday, little sister?" Nabiki ignored Ranma, "90,000 yen at least. How do you think it was paid for? Each of those boys paid me to fight you. They bet against you and lost. You should be happy about that. You should thank me. Instead you call me a pervert."

A red aura coalesced around Akane. "You're the most PERVERTED person I KNOW!"

"Hey, Akane, calm down will you? Getting angry just makes ya stupid."

"I am not stupid, Ranma!" Akane yelled at the redhead.

Genma winced. It must be a family curse, he reckoned. Genma didn't remember ever teaching the boy how to mess up so badly with women, but Ranma learned it from him anyway. Of course it wasn't just with women. Genma couldn't count the number of times he had MEANT to say "I'll work if you feed me," but INSTEAD said something along the lines of "I'll give you my first born for a pickle" or "Hey look! A ten yen coin!" Most people didn't understand these kinds of flub ups, but everyone could understand a little nervousness around the ladies. Unfortunately for Ranma, she WAS a lady right now. How could Ranma be so stupid? Taking that vial...why would Ranma even accept such a thing?

Ranma cringed at Akane comment as well. "Woah, Ore didn't say ya were stupid... Ore just said...Ore just said that gettin angry made ya ACT that way!"

Akane's anger eased and she smiled. "'Atashi,' Ranma. Honestly, will you ever learn?"

Genma blinked. That would have never worked if Ranma were still a boy...

Nabiki smiled, "You'll have to excuse my little sister, Saotome. She has a short fuse about some things."

Ranma turned to Nabiki and beamed. "That's okay, Nabiki, at least she ain't a perverted, backstabbin bitch."

"Touché" Nabiki conceded.

"What?" Ranma asked confused.

"Touché...its French...never mind." Nabiki waved it off with her free left hand. Suddenly she stopped walking. "Wait."

Water splashed in the space just in front of the three girls. It came from the ladle of an elderly lady standing in the entrance of her house's garden.

"GOOD MORNING, GRANDMOTHER SHIRATORI!" Nabiki called out.

Mrs. Shiratori turned around three times counter-clockwise, put her bucket and ladle down and squinted at Nabiki, Akane, and Ranma for a few moments before recognition registered on her face. "Oh, why good morning, Nabiki-chan! It's been a while since you've been by. Washi thought you had a ride with your friend, what's-her-name."

"Hey," Ranma whispered to Akane, "She's a woman and she uses 'Washi,' just like Pops. Why can't Ore use that?"

"You're not old enough. Don't you know ANYTHING?" Akane whispered back, "And you used 'Ore' again."

Nabiki grimaced, "May I introduce Saotome Ranma?" Nabiki motioned to Ranma with her free left hand in a wide, sweeping motion.

"Hi there," Ranma bowed her head in greeting, a somewhat confused look on her face.

"She and her father are staying at our home for..." Nabiki turned her head to Ranma, "How long was it you were planning on staying?"

"What the hell you askin me for?" Ranma responded.

"At any rate," Nabiki smiled turning back to Shiratori-san, "Akane and I thought we'd help Saotome out. You see she's a little shy."

"Ore ain't shy," Ranma asserted.

Akane kicked her in the calf again.

"What?" Ranma asked, "Oh...sorry."

Shiratori hobbled closer to Ranma put a weathered and wrinkled hand up to the redhead's brow, and closed her eyes. "I see a boy with slate-gray eyes...I see him fading away...I see dark forces in the distance approaching...becoming more distinct...madness...a woman in a white kimono...death." The old woman opened her eyes and the light of the morning sun reflected off them like the tips of daggers. "These things will come to pass if you continue on your present path." She took her hand off Ranma's forehead.

Ranma's jaw was slack, her eyes wide, her skin pale.

Genma was sure his own face, were it visible, would look much the same. Who was this Shiratori woman? Was what she said true? Was Ranma's male side going to fade away? And how did she know about Nodoka?

"I see you got back 'Martinique'" Nabiki said loudly, gesturing to the ladle by the entrance of Shiratori's home.

The old woman's somber features softened to a smile, as she turned toward Nabiki again. "Yes, Asuza-chan gave it back after some cajoling."

"Really? That's all it took?" Nabiki asked in her raised voice smirking.

Shiratori cackled, "I might have said one or two nasty things about her marriage prospects..."

"You're an evil old woman, you know that?" Nabiki smiled.

"And you're a malicious, perverse, and money hungry little girl." Shiratori rejoindered.

"We know each other so well don't we?" Nabiki laughed. "It's been nice talking with you again. I have to see these two idiots to school now."

"I am NOT an IDIOT!" Akane protested.

Ranma lightly kicked her in the calf.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?...oh sorry." Akane smiled sheepishly, calming down.

"Still hot tempered as ever, eh Akane-chan?" Shiratori jeered, "Such a tomboy. It's no wonder you don't ever bother to say hello to a lonely old woman. Just like a man."

Akane shook her free fist at the wizened face. "MAYBE if such a lonely old woman would stop INSULTING me every chance she got, I'd make more of an EFFORT!"

Shiratori cackled again, "And what would be the fun in that, young one?" There was a small pause as Akane tried to assimilate this, then Shiratori spoke again. "Go, child, before something unpleasant flies in that gaping mouth of yours." The girls left Shiratori to mutter to herself, smiling. "The youth are so uncouth. Uncouth youth. Forsooth..."

Genma stayed behind. He had to find out what this Shiratori knew. There was however the small matter of getting out of the Umisenken without revealing it to anyone...

"That girl, Saotome..." Shiratori spoke loudly looking off into the distance, "Her future troubles you."

Genma started. She had sensed him?

"Yes, I know you are here. I'm blind as a bat, but I can see as long as wills collide. Your will is strong enough to read by. You didn't like what I said about the red-haired girl."

Genma dropped all pretense of hiding and spoke. "He's my son."

"I see... That explains a lot then." The old woman turned around three times clockwise and picked up the bucket of water and the ladle. She began splashing the street pensively. The pace was slow and random, yet somehow soothingly rhythmic, like waves crashing on the beach. Genma was about to speak again when Shiratori stopped. "I have a small gift. I can see the paths that people are on. I know a little of what lay ahead. But people change paths all the time. They go in new directions based on the choices they make."

A young couple walked by arguing vehemently about some rumor one had heard about the other. Shiratori smiled, dipped her ladle in the bucket, and splashed the girl.

"Aw jeez," the boyfriend responded, "I knew we should've taken the other way. Hey look it's chilly. Why don't you put on my over-shirt? Then you can change clothes once we get to school." The girl nodded and accepted the shirt with a hesitant smile.

When they left, they were holding hands.

Shiratori nodded. "You can exert a force in this, but you must be careful which way you push." She turned toward Genma and held out her bucket and ladle. Her gaze was disturbingly off target. Genma supposed he should have been used to that sort of thing from his experiences with the Umisenken, but with Shiratori, more than with anyone before, her intense focus on something beyond Genma made him feel as if he didn't really exist. "Take these, you will need them."

Genma hesitantly accepted the proffered bucket and ladle with a quizzical look. "What could I do with this?" Genma asked.

In response, the old woman turned three times widdershins and stepped backward with her left foot, bringing her right even with it. She continued toward the entrance of her house in this manner, as if part of some backwards wedding procession. She had made five strides along the gravel pathway before saying, "Remember, Saotome Genma, it is often unwise to blaze new trails. Wait for a crossroads before changing directions."

Genma bowed his head in thought for a while, than lifted and nodded sagely. As Shiratori evanesced into the shadows of her domicile Genma smiled and wondered if the old biddy knew he understood exactly what she said. He had, after all, been subjected to years full of obscure sayings and vague prophetic warnings due to his dealings with the old master. All she was saying was that sometimes it was better to use a fork.

Genma had to admit that was true, although he was rather fond of chopsticks.

He couldn't quite figure out, though, what that had to do with Ranma. He also wondered if maybe he should find a quick snack. The bamboo earlier that morning had been surprisingly edible, but somehow it just wasn't very filling...This led Genma to question how it was that the bamboo that he ate as a panda wasn't making him sick as a man. Could it have been converted to something else? Fish and rice perhaps? Mmmm...fish and rice...with mayonnaise, some soy sauce and a raw egg to finish it off...that would be heaven right about now...

Genma shook his head. As delicious as that sounded, he could not head back to the dojo, he had students to watch over. He wasn't even hungry. Couldn't be. He ate a whole platter full of that bamboo. Then again how much do pandas eat? Maybe he should...Genma sniffed. Was someone cooking chicken? His mouth watered...He could hear the laughter of the Master in the tinkling of the canal water past the fence. He shuddered and gripped the bucket and ladle tightly. No. Ranma and the girls first. Then chicken.

Carrying the ladle and bucket, Genma reestablished the Umisenken and hurried to catch up with his students.

When he reached them, Nabiki was once again trying to get Ranma to let go of her hand. "Listen, Saotome, I propose a wager...a challenge, if you will."

"Oh yeah? What kinda challenge?"

"I don't think you want to be holding my hand any more than I want to be holding yours. I propose we both let go. If your father shows up knowing about it, I will agree to what your father AND you say as a sensei for a week. If the panda is clueless however, you have to agree to pose for some pictures."

Genma smiled. He was going to get to punish someone again! He crouched behind a bush in someone's backyard and let the two and a half girls walk a little ahead.

"Don't do it, Ranma" Akane warned "She hardly ever makes a bet unless she's sure she's going to win."

"Maybe. But she don't know my Pops." Ranma turned to Nabiki, "You're on." Ranma smirked. "On the count of three. One."

Genma stopped using the Umisenken and crept out from behind the bush.

"Two."

Smirking, Genma readied the ladle and bucket.

"Three." Ranma released Nabiki's hand with a flourish.

Genma gave them a good five seconds before splashing Nabiki and Ranma with the freezing cold water.

"Well, it looks like- GAH!" Nabiki exclaimed.

The two girls and Ranma whirled around. Strangely enough, Ranma didn't seem to be wet at all. "Unless your father says otherwise, I am your sensei. You must learn respect, Nabiki."

"See," Ranma said with a smirk, "Ore toldja, Nabiki."

"Ranma... 'Atashi'..."

"Oh right. Sorry 'kane."

"Don't think you are exempt, Ranma. You let go of Nabiki's hand just as much as she let go of yours." Genma aimed another water balloon sized ladle blast at Ranma again. The water somehow bent away from Ranma and splashed into Nabiki again full force.

"Aw c'mon, Pops." Ranma protested, apparently ignorant of the water's acrobatics, "I'm still holdin Akane's hand ain't I?"

"Th-th-there's no way..." Nabiki shivered, soaking wet, her eyes wide.

Looking at Nabiki's surprised expression was enough to make Genma forget the oddness with the water. He smiled. "You have to learn your limits, girl. You cannot know everything about your environment no matter how keen your senses." There was a flash of light and a rumbling. Genma ignored it. "You have to be ready for any situation, regardless of how it looks." Several rain drops fell from the sky landing on Genma's gi. "Even now there might be an assassin lurking unseen behind a bush or maybe in that canal waiting to attack." Genma pointed to the canal of rushing water behind the chain link fence as a sudden gust of wind blew more rain drops in his face. "You must keep your senses sharp watch for things behind you above you and to your sides as well as in front. But always be prepared because growf ga growfer row grop...Growf!" Genma had forgotten about the curse... he hadn't even noticed the change.

"Hey Pops!" Ranma taunted, "Guess ya shoulda been more prepared huh? Guess ya shoulda been payin attention to what was above ya, huh? Like for instance the big ass rain cloud?"

"Um... Ranma?" Akane tugged at the sleeve of her new friend's red silk Chinese over-shirt with her free hand.

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't we wet? It's raining pretty hard..."

Genma's fur kept the cold of the chilly spring rain off his body, but the water did make his fur rather heavy and uncomfortable. Nabiki was much worse off. Her hair was plastered to her head and her uniform was dark with rainwater. Ranma and Akane, by contrast, were dry as desert flowers. The boy turned girl, showing as much need to review her surroundings as Genma had, was only just now becoming aware of this.

"Hey yeah! Woah this is cool! Must be some sorta weird side affect from that vial I drank..."

"What vial?" Akane asked.

Genma made a good show of burying his furry forehead in his paw.

"Er..." Ranma elucidated, fingering her pigtail with her free hand. "Um..." she continued. "Well, ya see..." she expanded. Finally she brought her stunning oration to a close with, "I'll tell ya later 'kay?"

Akane nodded slowly, a furrow of confusion clouding her brow. Her eyes widened as she looked over Nabiki's shoulder at the billboard with the green digital time display. Genma followed her gaze, thankful that his curse didn't affect his sight that much, he read 8:32. Seeing as school started at 8:30, this was not a good thing. "Oh no! We're late!" Akane exclaimed

"Well Nabiki kinda held us back, complainin and chattin with that weird old lady..." Ranma pointed out.

Nabiki looked like she had a few things to say about that, but she was shivering too hard to respond. Now that Nabiki was officially his student, Genma would have to subject her to some vigorous environmental training. It was a good twenty degrees Celsius. Even in heavy rain, that should be plenty warm enough for any martial artist. Still Genma didn't want Nabiki getting sick or anything, "Growfer growf growf growf growfer growf growfer growf growf," Genma suggested.

"Thanks, Pops, I think that was the best advice ya ever gave," Ranma said with half-lidded eyes.

Akane raised her head as her eyes brightened, "Well, as long as we're late, we might as well stop by Tofu's. Nabiki can warm up there and we might even get passes for school!"

Ranma nodded. "Sounds good to me... Nabiki, ya gonna get outta the rain?" Ranma offered her hand.

Grimacing, Nabiki accepted. "You'll b-be s-sorry ab-bout th-this."

"Yeah well, when I am I'll let ya know."

Nabiki was still wet but the rain didn't go through the field that Ranma seemed to generate. It just bent away from him as if he were a reverse magnet for the water. Of course, ever since the curse, Ranma had been a water magnet, but this was a little more literal than Genma would have thought. As for Genma, for some reason water never sought him out as much. Of course, half the time he was in his cursed form anyway; so it didn't matter, but Genma wondered why water was attracted to Ranma so much more sometimes. Now apparently water was doing the opposite.

Shrugging Genma decided he was sick of having his pelt pelted by rain and grabbed Nabiki's wrist with his paw. Almost instantly, the rain seemed to stop...only it didn't. It gave Genma a feeling of being a disembodied spirit. His panda countenance would betray none of it, but the truth was, Genma found this a tad unsettling.

Nabiki looked up at Genma, startled. Then she turned her head toward Ranma. Then she sighed and looked ahead, her eyes no doubt burning a path through the rain ahead of them.

"So this doctor Tofu, he's pretty good huh?" Ranma asked.

"Oh he's great," Akane insured, "He's so good at medicine and acupuncture he's practically a wizard."

And with that Akane, the scare-cat, the tin woman, and the cowardly panda went off to see this "wizard."

~~~~~.~~~~~

Genma pauses to stretch a bit in the furo waters. He notices a young man listening to a waterproof walkman. Genma and Soun are sitting fairly close to one corner of the public bath and the short haired young man sits across from them against the edge adjacent to theirs. When Genma sees him, he looks away, as if he had been staring at Genma for a while. He has a sort of ratty complexion with small eyes that seem to glare mischievously while his mouth curls in a slight smile. Genma wonders if the boy is gay. This brings him alarmingly to the subject of his own child's sexuality. As long as Ranma still changed with water, Genma was sure he'd just be attracted to girls and there'd be no problem. But now... what if Ranma's a girl forever? Genma didn't want a daughter of his to be a lesbian, but what could he do? What if the boy across from Genma is a girl cursed to be in a boy's body?

"So... Ranma is waterproof?" Soun asks, distracting Genma from his disturbing thoughts.

"Yes, as far as I've been able to tell. Hot water hits him just fine but cold water just bends around him and anyone he's holding hands with."

"That's odd. What did Dr. Tofu have to say about that?"

"He said something about water being polar, but he wasn't sure how a potion could manipulate it like that." Genma leaned back. "Tendo, how can such a young boy know so much?"

"It was his father," Soun replied somberly, "They were very close."

"What happened?"

"For the longest time it was a mystery. Tofu's father was a doctor, a good one, but neither he nor any other professional could figure out what was wrong with him. He just got weaker and weaker until..." Soun swallowed, "Tofu's father died when the boy was sixteen. He had been sick for two years. After that, Tofu flew through school, he was determined to make his father proud. And I'm sure he has. The boy is already a fine doctor. Don't call him Doctor Ono though. He jokes around, but he's still a little sensitive about being called the same thing his father was."

"Did he ever figure out what killed his father?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"A curse."

"You mean magic?"

"Yes. It was a fairly simple curse as I understand it. But still...it almost killed Kasumi."

"Kasumi was cursed too?"

Soun's eyes grew watery, "Tofu saved my baby, Saotome. That boy's a saint. I'd give him almost anything just for that, but he won't accept it. Not one yen. And he's been our family doctor ever since then. He's never charged us for anything, and I tell you he's the best doctor you could ever hope to find."

"Hmm...I guess I shouldn't feel so embarrassed about working for him then."

"You're working for him?"

"Yes, starting tomorrow. I was asking for Ranma, but Tofu said that he needed an assistant that could work during school hours."

"Saotome...I'm glad you're helping Tofu out, but...aren't you a little over qualified?"

"Tendo, I'm forty-two years old, I have no formal education, the only thing I really know how to do well is steal things and beat people up. What else am I going to do?"

"You could help me in the dojo..."

"Yes and I'm going to, but the only students you have right now are your own children and two of them dropped out."

Soun starts to stand out of the water, "Saotome that's low..."

"Calm down, Tendo. I'm just stating the facts. We've got to face it, my friend. Unless we do something about it, Anything Goes is going to fade away, and all that pain, all that suffering that the demon put us through is going to be for nothing."

Soun sits on the edge, out of the water. Genma joins him as he finds the heat of the water a little stifling himself.

"You're right of course," Soun sighs, "I really have been depending on Nabiki too much these past few years. Grandmother Shiratori...she may be a little... eccentric but she really helped out after...that year. She actually managed to amass a great deal of wealth in her younger days, despite being a woman of low birth. Nabiki talked with her everyday... she used to do things like that, you know. She always had a knack for knowing when people needed company... When it happened...I wasn't worth much I'm afraid. Shiratori started paying Nabiki for doing odd jobs for her, and somehow we always had enough to get by. Akane and Kasumi find Grandmother Shiratori to be difficult, but Nabiki...she loves that old woman to death. Had I known she'd be such a bad influence... but then what could I have done? Nabiki's been the real bread winner for our family since she was seven. I feel like I've been sleeping all this time, and I'm only just now waking up."

"You've done nothing all this time?"

"It's not as bad as that really. I go to parent teacher meetings, I do odd jobs for people...Sometimes I'll find out about some robbery or assault and I'll help catch the criminal responsible. Some people seem to think I should run for some kind of office, but I don't know if they're joking or not."

"Tendo, that would be perfect for you! Even when you were a scraggly punk kid you always got the girls. Even when we both got caught on a raid, you could get out of it much quicker than I ever could."

"What are you saying, Saotome?"

"You have charisma, Tendo! That's something I could never manage."

"Maybe you're right. It's worth a try anyway. I've been going to the town meetings more often recently and I think I might have a few connections..."

Genma thinks of something. "Tendo...Is Shiratori really psychic?"

Soun eases himself back into the water. "That's not an easy question to answer, my friend. Some of the things she says... Something you ought to know though is she likes to mess with people. Sometimes she'll say things just to get a reaction. It's no use trying to understand that woman. She's said things to me I wouldn't dare repeat even under threat of death they were so vulgar."

"Come now, no one could be as crass as the master."

Soun looks up at Genma and it seems coals are burning in his eyes. "The master never knew my wife."

Genma can say nothing to that. He lowers himself back into the water. He notices the boy with the walkman is staring at him again. Genma tries to imagine that the boy is a beautiful woman, but shortly comes to the decision that even if it were a woman staring at him it would be disturbing. In fact the effort in trying to imagine that the rat-faced boy could be a girl is disturbing in itself. Genma is about to ask the boy to find something else to occupy his attention when Soun speaks.

"What happened when they got to school?"

Genma is rather glad for the distraction. "I allowed them to stop holding hands but they still arrived at school more or less together. I stayed a little longer at Tofu's discussing employment, so I'm not sure of how it happened, but when I caught up to them at school, this Kuno character was keeping them from entering the school..."

"Yes, yes...Kuno. Tell me, what's the boy really like? I get such a negative impression from Akane."

"Well, I'll say this...the boy is determined. And he has some measure of skill. And he IS somewhat chivalrous in a backwards sort of way but..."

"But?"

"He's a buffoon."

~~~~~.~~~~~

Kuno barred Akane's way with his outstretched bokken. Strangely enough Akane giggled. "Kuno...honestly... you're late to class. I have got a pass so I don't care how long you keep me out here, but you're going to have to stand in the hall."

"Such a meager sacrifice I would gladly pay to banter with one of such fierce beauty." A breeze blew past, which might have been properly dramatic except Kuno was rather soaked from the earlier downpour and the breeze just caused him to shiver.

"I don't have time for this," Nabiki declared and walked past the tableau, further breaking the tension.

"Go then, wench. I have no need of your presence," Kuno retorted. "But hark! Who is this maiden that doth accompany Diana on the hunt?"

Akane nudged Ranma in the ribs. "He's talking about you."

"Huh?"

"Fair maid of the fiery hair," Kuno got on one knee and grabbed Ranma's hand, "Tell me how I may address you!"

"Um...well I'm..."

"Wait! Is it not customary to give one's own name first?"

"Um..."

Kuno stood up, clasping Ranma's hand to his heart. "Very well! Mine I shall give! Know that it is the rising star of Furinkan High School and leader of its Kendo team, Kuno Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder who speaks to you now." Kuno had his bokken raised up into the air. It would have been really impressive if there had been a crack of lightening or something, but alas, the shower that might have produced such special effects was long gone.

Ranma jerked her hand out of Kuno's grasp and got in a fighting stance. "Watch it buddy, Ore ain't real interested in gettin ta know you better. In fact, why doncha just shut yer pie hole and get out of my face before Ore rearrange yours?"

"Ranma..."Akane muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Diana's companion has zest as well! Very well, I will engage you in combat, pigtailed one, but I would have the name of my opponent."

"Name's Saotome Ranma of the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and Ore am gonna..."

"Ranma!" Akane yelled.

"Sorry...Atashi am gonna kick yer ass!"

Genma watched unseen from a bush, coming out of the Umisenken so he could concentrate fully on the fight. Ranma almost lunged at Kuno, but then stopped herself. Genma nodded, whispering the words he told the boy many times. Don't make the first move hastily. Watch your opponent, note his strengths and weaknesses. If he attacks, respond, but otherwise be calm and reveal nothing.

"Your move, Kuno, I'm ready when you are," Ranma growled. Akane yelled again but Ranma didn't seem to care.

Kuno went from holding his weapon two handed in front of him to standing sideways with the bokken over his head. This marked Kuno as being largely restricted to his own style. In sword fighting, a win came often after a few, well placed hits, so the beginning stance was much more important. This was only true, however, in refereed matches and with bladed weapons. Kuno was using a wooden bokken and his opponent was completely unarmed. These exaggerated stances were completely useless and dangerously limiting unless... Genma looked closer. The stances weren't just good. They were perfect. The feet were at the exact optimum angle, the "blade" of the bokken at just the right cant. Even though Kendo was not Genma's focus in the Art, he was impressed. To enter even a simple stance so flawlessly required great discipline, and Kuno did it so naturally it would have seemed second nature, were he not so obviously using the stances to show off.

"Nay, I must insist beauty come before brawn," Kuno said over his shoulder before moving his bokken to his side, its point as still as a rock in cement oriented in Ranma's direction.

Genma knew this comment was winding Ranma up to no end. He could see her face twitch in the effort to stay focused. He also knew that Ranma hardly ever trained in his girl body, despite his agreeing that it was a good idea. The fight would be harder than Ranma might think. Looking between the two of them, he could feel the tension mount. Everything slowed to a crawl. Noises melted into the background until it seemed that all that existed were Kuno, Ranma, Akane, and himself.

Finally, taking her cue from somewhere within herself, or perhaps a higher power, Ranma charged.

Genma grimaced. So much for Ranma's training.

Ranma jumped into a flying sidekick that would have impacted Kuno's face quite painfully, except the move was so obvious that Kuno would have had to be brain dead to miss it. Stepping to the side in a flourish, he lightly whacked Ranma on the back with the bokken. "I have smote thee, fair maiden. As my prize..."

"You ain't smote shit, stick boy!" And Ranma swung her leg around in a high hook kick that caught Kuno at the base of the skull.

Kuno staggered forward and his eyes widened a moment before he turned around his bokken straight in front of him again. "A hit! Albeit fowl. Mayhap I needs must demonstrate my prowess further."

"I don't want nothin ta do with your 'prowess'!" Ranma exclaimed but kept herself from lashing out again.

Kuno swung lazily at Ranma with the bokken. Ranma dodged easily. Kuno smiled and swung again, this time making a side swipe across Ranma's middle. Ranma jumped over the swing and somersaulted in the air before landing behind Kuno and executing a powerful roundhouse to the kendoist's temple.

Kuno staggered to the side and then righted himself, shaking his head to help clear his vision. "Certes, thou art a nimble nymph. I have dallied long enough. It is time this battle cease." With that Kuno became a whirlwind of motion, his blade a wooden blur in space as he attacked Ranma.

Ranma dodged every blow with ease, her body jerking one way then the other. Every other swing Ranma punched Kuno in a new location until finally she nailed him in the solar plexus causing the boy to gasp for breath. Ranma followed up with a snap kick to the chin a hook kick to the eardrum, an axe kick to the collarbone and finally a throw to the ground. Ranma straddled Kuno and put her hand around the boy's throat, fire dancing in her eyes. "Don't ya EVER touch me again. Ya got that? I don't even wanna catch ya LOOKIN at me! Cuz if ya do, we're gonna finish this and ya ain't gonna like the endin."

"Very well," wheezed Kuno. "I shall allow you to date...me." And with that he fell unconscious.

"Huh?" Ranma asked no one in particular.

"I tried to warn you," Akane sighed, putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder, "Kuno has this...thing for girls who fight. Ask Nabiki to tell you about Linda sometime."

"Linda?"

"American exchange student. Female boxer. She was only here a week before she transferred back. Best thing she could have done really...the mental hospitals are better in America."

"Akane?"

"Yes, Ranma?"

"Do ya think if we go inside right now he'll forget what I look like?"

"Doubt it, but I guess It's worth a shot," Akane shrugged. And with that the two ran into the school"

~~~~~.~~~~~

"The boy has an interesting pick up line," Soun remarks with a smile as he sits in the bath.

"A buffoon, I believe I said," Genma nods.

"Yes, I recall...still I wouldn't say he's completely moronic..."

"He was holding back. I imagine even if Ranma hadn't dodged those whirlwind swings they wouldn't have even caused a bruise. The boy WANTED Ranma to beat him up. I consider that sufficiently moronic."

"I don't know...that's more or less how I met..." Soun choked up.

"That was different. You weren't TRYING to get beat up, you just were...Why can't you say her name?"

"Saotome, please...you didn't know her like I did. She was precious, beautiful...a goddess. I am not worthy of uttering those three syllables... not yet. Maybe...once Anything Goes is secure..." Tendo trailed off looking wistfully at some point in space.

"Tendo, I'm sure she loves you now as she did in life. She would not think you unworthy..."

"Her love is something I do not yet deserve, Saotome. Regardless of how you may see it, that's how I feel, and it's going to take more than mere words to change that."

"Fine, but try to remember, you're a good man, Tendo Soun. Maybe you don't know it, and maybe no one else does either, but I do. I've fought beside you in too many battles not to."

Soun is silent for a moment, "Saotome...thank you. You're a good man too."

Genma half smiles, half grimaces at that. He has done terrible things, torn apart families, upset whole cultures, abandoned his wife and tortured his child. He came to Nerima, not to help out his friend, but because he was tired of it all, because he had all but given up on teaching Ranma anything worthwhile, because he wanted to shirk his responsibility onto someone else and live the rest of his life in shame. Instead his responsibilities increased tenfold since he has come here, and truth be told, he's been looking for the slightest opportunity to run away. Maybe he was a good man once... but not anymore. Still, hearing his friend say it, Genma wonders... Maybe if he stays, maybe if he can somehow do the impossible and teach Anything Goes to the Tendo daughters, maybe if he can save his friend from his self doubt and depression, he can be a good man again. "I hope so, Tendo," Genma says, "I hope so."

"Saotome, I know you have your reasons but I feel I must bring this up...Nodoka is _not_ dead. You need to at least talk with her. It's been ten years..."

"No, Tendo. I'm not ready to see her. And I don't want Ranma thinking his mother is anything other than the loving, nurturing woman she was before that night. I don't think I can trust her again..."

"You have to give her a chance..."

"No, Tendo, it's more than that. When it comes down to it, I signed a contract. I was to make Ranma a man among men. Regardless of how good Ranma is, the fact of the matter is that I failed. If Nodoka finds out about Ranma...It's true I've broken many contracts but there are two I aim to keep. Someday the Tendo and Saotome lines will be joined, and someday Ranma will be a man among men. Until one is secure, I cannot risk failing the other. That would be the end of the last shred of honor I have left."

"I understand." Soun takes in a breath, "Still, I can't let you waste any more time away from your wife...I just can't. In the fall, we visit the family gravesite...I'll give you till then. Then I send Nodoka a letter telling her you're here."

Genma sighs, "Fair enough. Maybe by then this business with Ranma being stuck will be over." Genma looks at his hands. "Well, my friend, I suppose it's time to leave, my hands are wrinklier than the old master!"

"Nothing's that wrinkled," Soun smiles, "I guess you can finish telling me about today on the way back."

"Not much to tell really. As far as I saw, Ranma was okay at school. After he and Akane left, they went shopping... there were too many people for me to use the Umisenken so I couldn't get close to them...I'd rather not tell what I saw...it was too embarrassing. After they left they went job hunting, and as you know they were lucky and they both got jobs working in a restaurant."

"A miracle is more like it."

Genma gets out of the bath and speaks dismissively. "Well yes. I didn't see the interview because I was a little...distracted." He always felt the expression "all you can eat" was something of a challenge... "At any rate most of the rest you know as well as I do."

Genma notices the rat-faced possibly gay boy is getting up too, turning off a switch on his walkman and carrying it with him out of the bath blithely by the antenna. Genma pauses, a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong, Saotome?"

"Tendo...Have you ever seen a walkman with an antenna before?"

"No..."Soun answers, "can't say that I have. Why?"

There is one odd scene Genma recalls from his surveillance of Furinkan earlier today. During lunch, Genma saw Nabiki leave the building with a boy. The boy had seemed nervous at first, then excited after Nabiki said something to him. After the boy left Nabiki looked up... and Genma could have sworn she looked straight at him. He wasn't in the Umisenken, but still he was so quiet no one should have noticed him. It made him think maybe Nabiki had more talent than she had let on.

Perched in a tree so that he was level with the third floor and could see Ranma in his classroom, Genma wasn't at the best angle to see the boy, but still the hairstyle, the body structure... both were similar to that of the boy currently holding a walkman with a conspicuous antenna.

Quickly, Genma grabs the boy's ear, almost forgetting to be careful not to rip it off the skull.

"YEEEEOOOWTCH!" the boy protests.

"Where is she?" Genma asks.

"ARGH! Stop it man, that hurts! Look, I owed her money okay? Listening to two old men talk isn't my idea of a good...AAAAAH! Look man, Ranma's secret's safe with me okay? I'm not telling anybody!"

Genma hadn't thought about what he said about Ranma...if Nabiki was listening... "Where is Nabiki?" Genma repeats with a pull of the ear.

"YEOW! She's in the girls' side of the baths okay? Jeez!"

Genma releases the ear and runs to the sinks. Someone just finished filling a bucket with cold water. Genma takes it and pours it over his head.

"What are you doing, Saotome?" Soun asks surprised.

"Growf." Genma says by way of response.

"Hey!" the boy calls out to him as he bounds past, "If Ranma does go girl, could I date her?"

Genma stops, turns around, raises his paws, and towers over the boy. "GRAWR!"

"Sorry, man, I just had to ask. She's just so hot..."

Ignoring the arguably not gay boy's apology, Genma runs to the girls' side of the bath. It takes only a few moments before he finds what he is looking for.

Nabiki stands, smirking, in a two piece bathing suit, towel in one hand, waterproof radio in the other. "Why hello there, Saotome-sensei! I believe I have something I want to learn from you after all. Thanks to my good friend Daisuke, I know all sorts of things about you and yours...really it's enough to fill a book! One thing in particular...I'm quite fascinated by this 'Sea of a Thousand Fists' technique. Maybe you could tell me more about that?"

"Growf." Genma protests.

"Isn't that what you wanted? Didn't you want me to be your student? Didn't you want me to 'understand'? Well here's your chance. You teach me the Umisenken...and I'll be sure Ranma doesn't hear about his poor, mentally unsound mother."

"Grrrrow," Genma seethes.

"Please, Saotome-sensei, you're making a scene!" Nabiki smiles widely looking from side to side with her eyes to call attention to the other girls in the public bath who are busy pointing and wondering if now would be a good time to scream. "Do we have a deal or not?"

Genma is silent and still for a few moments as he considers his options. He decides he really doesn't have any. He turns around and starts to walk away.

"Was that a yes, sensei? Or should I give Ranma a call?"

In a flash, Genma whips around and backhands Nabiki in the temple with his paw... just enough to knock her out. Maybe before Jusenkyo, before the Amazons, even before he found out about this subterfuge, he would have felt sorry about doing that to a girl, but his experiences have made him a firm believer in equal rights.

Ignoring the screams and protestations around him, Genma slings Nabiki on one shoulder and walks out of the public bath. He pays no mind to Soun's look of worry and confusion. It's a long walk to the Tendo home, but Genma doesn't feel discouraged, in fact quite the contrary. As he thinks about it, he realizes Nabiki knowing Ranma's true sex will scarcely be a problem, and she would have found out sometime anyway. Furthermore, there is no way Nabiki can learn the Umisenken at her level. Even Ranma would find it difficult. As the initial fear of his secrets being revealed to Ranma fades, Genma realizes that Nabiki was right. What she was asking for is EXACTLY what he wants. He finds himself wishing his panda form could whistle...

~~~~~[END]~~~~~

Thanks to everyone who gave a review, and I'm sorry I took so long getting this out. Apologies as well to anyone who was hoping to see more of Ranma. I just thought showing Genma's perspective on things would be neat.

My prereaders for this chapter were NemesisZero and Lufio.

C&C very much appreciated.


	4. Normal Girls

Oyu no Ranma

Ch. 4: Normal Girls

**DISCLAIMER**: In a frantic rush, Linda ran to the office printer, grabbed the report, shoved it into a folder and slammed it onto the CEO's desk. She looked at her watch. She might just make it, she thought. She rushed down the hallway, almost crashing into a receptionist who was on her way back from a coffee break. Not trusting the elevator, she took off her heels and stumbled as fast as she could down the stairs in her stocking feet. Through the parking lot she ran to her car. She drove like a maniac to the elementary school. She parked as close as she could and ran inside. A stuffy-looking lady in dour glasses smiled at her officiously at the door. "Let me in!" Linda pleaded, "My daughter is in the play!"

"I'm sorry," the lady said, "I can't do that. Many characters and situations in this fanfiction are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty film, and Fuji TV. The author is writing this without their permission."

~~~~~*~~~~~

**Note on timing**: This and the next couple chapters actually take place at the same time as the previous chapter, only from Ranma's perspective. I realize this is a little confusing, it's part of the reason why It's been so long since the last chapter. But I could work out a better way to do it so this is what we're left with. Enjoy!

~~~~~Ch.4~~~~~

After that embarrassing fight with Kuno, School had been rather dull. Akane and Ranma were late to their first class, but they had doctor's notes from Tofu, so that wasn't a big deal. As for the rest of Ranma's initial scholastic adventure, she had missed a year and two months of school while she was on the road with her father, but she hadn't exactly _missed_ it. History was still boring, Math was still incomprehensible, English was still equally incomprehensible, and Gym was too easy. The lunch period had held the most action really.

Japanese schools have lunch in the classrooms, and as a result there's a slightly less institutional feel to it than in American schools, which is odd when you consider that most things about Japanese education are _more_ institutional than the American system. Ranma had been admonished three times already that she had to get a school uniform. Normally she wouldn't pay this any mind, except Akane kept assuring everyone that Ranma was just new and that she would be buying one as soon as possible.

Because lunches take place in classrooms, the cliques are a bit smaller than in American high schools. They are still apparent however. Most of them center around different clubs. At Furinkan there were the Tennis players, the Kendoists, the Thespians, the Chemists, the Yankii with their died blond hair and sour expressions, and then there were the Popular kids. In more well-to-do schools these kids might be the hall monitors, but in Furinkan, the hall monitors were all invisible losers to whom nobody paid any attention. The popular kids were either pretty, impressively athletic, or both. Everyone hovered around the Popular kids like the spokes of a wheel.

As it turned out, this was the group Akane belonged to. And it made for some uncomfortable moments.

Akane and Ranma had just begun opening their lunches when Sayuri came to Akane's desk, "Akane-chan you've honestly got to stop taking on these charity cases, I mean, like, honestly!"

"Ranma's not a charity case, Sayuri, She's a guest, and she's really cool. She's better at kenpo than I am. Didn't you see her beat Kuno?"

"No, I mean, hello? _I_ was in school on time, okay? Besides, it's not like we _need_ another female martial artist at this school, honestly!" Sayuri had her hair in an off center ponytail and lots of bright plastic jewelry that made her look like an 80's era Madonna wannabe despite her uniform…and Japanese-ness. She had a gracefulness to her movements though, which suggested a great deal of training.

"How many female martial artists are at this school?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, it's just Akane, and I guess you now. But that's more than enough, believe me," Sayuri answered as if she hadn't been insulting Ranma five seconds before. "Don't get me wrong, some of the moves Akane showed me work really well in some of my dances, but the rest of it is so...barbaric." Then she turned back to Akane and started up the insults again, "Honestly, Akane, why couldn't you have brought a boyfriend to school instead of China girl over here? I'm sick of having to date boys from other prefectures."

As if to punctuate her point, a boy with light brown hair stepped in from behind Sayuri, "Hi, China girl, I'm Hiroshi. So...me and some of the guys were wondering... do we have to fight you to date you or are you easy like Sayuri here?"

"I'm not easy!" Sayuri protested

"And you don't have to fight me to go on a date with me!" Akane yelled afterwards.

"Oh, so you'll go on a date with me then?" Hiroshi asked, stepping rather close to Akane. Judging by the way he moved, and how he seemed oblivious to Akane's personal space, Ranma guessed he was a wrestler, though his muscle definition put him strictly at the amateur level.

"NO!" Akane wrinkled her nose. "I don't date creeps."

"You think every boy is a creep," the boy said, backing up an inch or so, apparently realizing he was being a little weird. "And if I were to beat you in a fight you'd be honor bound to date me wouldn't you? That is the deal isn't it?"

"Look, I had nothing to do with that. That was all Kuno and my sister."

"Right, well…the way I understand it, you're the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes. If one of us challenges you, we challenge your school. So if we beat you, you have to win your title back, and we would get to dictate the terms of the next challenge. In other words, we could force you to date us. Am I getting anything muddled here?"

"No," Akane muttered sullenly.

"So it comes back to what I was saying. You won't date anybody unless they beat you... and Sayuri is easy."

"Hey!" Sayuri hit Hiroshi on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, babe, I'm easy too." With that, Hiroshi dipped Sayuri down into a kiss.

When he rose again, Sayuri was blushing and Hiroshi was looking at Ranma with a lecherous grin on his face. "So how about you, China Girl? You easy? Or _hard_?"

The way Hiroshi said the word _hard_, seemed vaguely perverted to Ranma, so it didn't seem like she could safely choose either option. The word "hard," as in "difficult" is _taihen_ in Japanese, and if you are a Japanese of that sort of mindset then you might notice that if you switch the syllables around you get _hentai_. Hiroshi was of that mindset. Ranma was not. Ranma just knew that she did not want to be hard OR easy, so she did her best to create a third option:

"Let me put it this way, shithead. If you so much as _breathe_ funny in my direction I'm going to kick your ass so hard my toes will be sticking out of the top of your head." As an afterthought, Ranma added, "And my name ain't China Girl. It's Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

Hiroshi backed up and held up his hands, his eyes wide. He was still smiling though. "I guess that answers that question. Hey guys!" Hiroshi called out to his buddies, "Looks like we got another Anything Goes girl!"

Akane sighed. "Sorry Ranma, now you're in the same mess I am."

Ranma shook her head, "It's no biggie. If you can handle a bunch of guys attacking you every mornin', then I should be able to, no sweat."

"I don't know, Ranma. Some of the boys are pretty strong and you might not be able to dodge if you're fighting more than one at a time."

"Oh yeah? I bet I knock more of 'em out tomorrow than you!"

"You're on!"

They were joined by Yuka, who had shoulder length hair and an air of having seen everything. She also was very lean and a few inches taller than Akane. She seemed to cut through the room when she walked. A runner, Ranma guessed. "So you're the new girl, Ranko Saotome, that right?" She asked, sitting on Ranma's desk.

"It's Ranma Saotome," Ranma corrected her.

Yuka wrinkled her nose. "Ranma. Why would you want to be named that? Wild horse indeed. You know you're just inviting the guys in school to try to tame you."

"It's my name. I'm keeping it," Ranma stated.

Yuka shook her head. "You ought to come up with a cool English name for people to call you in school. It's the latest thing. I'm Erika, Akane is Scarlett, you know, like in _Kaze to Tomo ni Sarinu_? Fits her to a tee. What would be a good name for you? Ronda maybe. That sounds a little like your Japanese name."

Ranma had no idea what Yuka was talking about. Yuka, as Akane would later explain, had recently become an Americanophile after she had stayed in the U.S. for a month with some family. She had seen _Gone with the Wind,_ along with its Japanese version, _Kaze to Tomo ni Sarinu_ something like five times. Ranma, of course, hadn't ever seen _Gone with the Wind_ and didn't even know Scarlett the color much less Scarlett the character in that movie. She was just irritated by the girl. "My name is Ranma," she reaffirmed, forgetting to use feminine personal pronouns.

"You're worse than Scarlett! You even talk like a boy. Lucky for you they like tomboys around here. Do you have a boyfriend yet, Ronda, or are you still pure and virginal like Scarlett here?"

Akane came to Ranma's rescue here. "Yuka! She just got here okay? At least give her a few days before you start with the boyfriend crap."

"Scarlett, the school is in utter chaos because you're the most popular girl in school, but you won't go out with anyone. Ronda is just as pretty as you are and apparently just as much of a tomboy. I'm just trying to stave off the end of the world a day or two."

"I didn't ask to be the most popular girl in school. The only reason I am is BECAUSE I won't go out with anyone."

Yuka sighed. "I know. You're making it hard on the rest of us. All the men are saving themselves for you. It's pathetic. And I know you're waiting for someone mature to come along, but I have to break it to you, there isn't any such thing. I dated this college boy last night. Total jerk. Should have figured with his Lolita complex and everything."

"Yuka, You're sixteen!"

"I know, right? He still had his hands all over me like I was a piece of meat. I tell you, sex is all men think about. There aren't any exceptions."

Ranma knew of one exception. She hadn't thought of sex much at all when she was a boy. She was too busy learning the Art and trying to survive off of stolen food scraps back then. Then again the only girl Ranma had any real contact with was Shampoo, and that was when she was a part time girl. Shampoo was aesthetically pleasing, that was sure. But Ranma never found her physically attractive. Granted, most of the time when she saw her she was the wrong gender and Shampoo was trying to kill her, but still, shouldn't she have felt something in the nights when she was a boy?

"Bullshit," Ranma said out loud, startling both herself and the girls sitting around her. "You just don't meet any boys who aren't sex crazed lunatics 'cause you're a sex crazed lunatic yourself. If you met a boy who didn't think about sex all the time you'd probably just make fun of 'im or something, because he wouldn't give you the time of day."

Yuka had her mouth open for a moment, but then she smiled and laughed. "You know, Ronda, I think you may have a point there. I have to feel like the guy is a little interested in me or else why bother, right?"

"My name ain't Ronda, it's Ranma."

Yuka smiled and grabbed Ranma's nose shaking her head back and forth. "Aw lighten up, Ronda. It's going to be a long school year otherwise."

Yuka got off of Ranma's desk and started singing "Herupu mi Ronda! Herupu herupu mi Ronda!"

Ranma, of course, had never heard of the Beach Boys or the song "Help me, Rhonda," so it just seemed to her like Yuka had gone momentarily insane. Ranma was pretty sure it was going to be a long school year whether she lightened up or not.

~~~~~*~~~~~

After school, Ranma and Akane had to set about getting a job. First, however, they had to do some shopping. "The Nade's a couple blocks down from the school." Akane explained as she led the way.

"The Nade?"

"The full name is Japanese Beauty Baatafurai. Most of us just call it the Nade though."

Ranma nodded. The abbreviation came from the first two syllables of the word for Japanese Beauty, "Nadesico".

"What's baatafurai mean?" Ranma asked.

"It's English for 'butterfly'," Akane explained, "The Nade carries school uniforms, but they also make dresses for weddings and other special occasions."

"And you go there enough to have a nickname for the place?"

"Oh yeah, it's really cool," Akane said, touching Ranma's shoulder excitedly, "They have all kinds of fancy dresses there in storage, and you can rent them for only 1000 yen an hour. Once, for Sayuri's birthday, she, Yuka and I got dressed up at the Nade and went out for karaoke. It was so much fun! Well, until the boys showed up anyway." Akane's expression soured, and she let her hand fall back to her side.

"Why do you hang out with those girls?" Ranma asked, "They don't seem all that great to me."

"Sometimes, I wonder about that myself," Akane sighed, "but they're the only friends I have, or at least they were until you showed up. I wouldn't have been able to stand high school without them."

Ranma couldn't say anything to that. Just the mere possibility of friendship with a girl she barely knew was enough to make her sacrifice six months of her manhood, who was she to criticize Akane's choices?

Instead, Ranma found herself reaching out for Akane's hand. Akane grasped it lightly and smiled at her. Ranma felt warmth, both emotional and physical, from the act. It felt good to hold Akane's hand, to have a friend to share something with, even if what was shared was a feeling of loneliness.

She felt a lump start in her throat, but she kept from crying, mostly out of habit. She walked, holding hands with Akane for the remaining block as they approached the Nade.

"Welcome!" an elderly, willowy woman greeted them as they entered the shop. Manikins dressed in bright, colorful dresses and kimono lined the walls. There was a comfortable looking leather couch on the far left and two wide doorways that led to the men's and the women's changing rooms. Finally, a door behind the sales counter led into an expansive back room. Everything seemed bright, fashionable and clean. There was an austere quality too, like a zen garden.

Ranma didn't notice anything special about the old lady's garb at first. It was pretty nondescript, but after she had looked around the store she found herself looking at the woman again when she moved. The clothes, she realized, were perfectly tailored. There were no visible seams, and yet there was no way the lady could move that would produce the slightest wrinkle.

"Good afternoon, Nishikigi-san," Akane bowed. Ranma followed suit after realizing she was staring at the lady.

"Good afternoon, Tendo-san. I see you have brought a friend."

"Yes, this is Saotome Ranma, she's staying with my family. Take care of her okay?"

"Pleased to meet you, Saotome-san," Nishikigi greeted Ranma.

"Right back atcha," Ranma said in return, after which Akane hit her in the elbow. "Hey! What was that for?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "Ranma grew up on the road with her father," She explained to the lady, "She's a little uncultured."

Nishikigi nodded toward Ranma in sympathy. "That must have been terrible for you."

Ranma shrugged. "It had its moments. I just need a uniform for school and I'll be out of your hair."

Nishikigi's expression darkened for a brief moment into something approaching disgust, but then brightened again into a saleslady smile. Ranma wondered what was up. Then she noticed Akane was glaring at her and she got it. "Oh right. Atashi, not ore. I forgot. Sorry, 'kane."

"She was also raised as a boy," Akane explained.

"Well, for a boy, you make a beautiful girl, Saotome-san. I just need your measurements and I'll have your uniform ready right away."

Ranma found herself blushing at the lady's complement. Of course she had been called beautiful before, but mostly by drunken sailors and lecherous would-be muggers. Not by nice old ladies in a dress shop. "Um…measurements?"

"Don't worry about it; we'll sort you out, dear," Nishikigi assured her, "If you could turn around please?"

Ranma made a full 360 degree turn, feeling a little silly.

Nishikigi frowned just a moment again, and smiling once more said, "You have an admirable taste in clothing, given the circumstances, but I'm afraid they're too loose for me to make anything out. If you could just step into the change room for a moment and take off your blouse and slacks?"

"Okay." Ranma said, and let out a small sigh as she glanced over to the men's change room for a second before walking into the women's. Once she was inside it was fine. Just like the men's change rooms she had been in when she was a boy. It was just that those little choices that she had always taken for granted as a child were now a constant reminder that things were different now. She stripped to her underwear. She was wearing the sports bra from the previous night and a fresh pair of panties. She had managed to forget about this during the day and now she felt a wave of embarrassment as she looked down at herself.

"36-25-34," Nishikigi declared as she picked up Ranma's old clothing. "I'll be back in five minutes."

"Um, okay." Ranma said. Then she realized something. "Hey! What are ya doin' with my clothes?"

But the lady was already gone. Akane came in a moment later. "So she got you, huh? I thought she might."

"What do you mean?"

"Nishikigi-san is a little, what's the expression? Obsessive compulsive?"

"Yeah? What's that?"

"She can't stand it when clothes don't fit. She's really fast, and it's kind of neat really, but you don't want to come in here wearing someone else's clothes, and it can be really embarrassing if you gain weight or...start building up muscle."

"So…my clothes…?"

Akane nodded, "They're going to come back... improved."

"How strong are you, anyway?" Ranma asked, changing the subject.

Akane looked down at her feet. "Once, daddy passed out and I had to carry him to his room. I didn't even break a sweat."

"Wow, that's awesome! I bet you couldn't carry my pops, though."

Akane laughed and looked up for a bit, but she looked down again. "Not passed out, but I could manage it if he helped a little, you know, like, if he wrapped his arms and legs around me?"

"Okay. That's not an image I wanted in my head, but that's really cool. I could do that during a fight once I got my ki worked up a bit, but not cold. You should use that in your Art."

"Girls aren't supposed to be strong like that," Akane said.

Ranma thought about this for a while. She hadn't put it together that Akane was a girl, she was thinking of Akane as a student of the Art. "Um…I guess that means you're a bit of a tomboy. That's okay, right?"

"No, Ranma, it isn't." Akane said sounding a little hurt. "I've been a tomboy all my life. Getting into fights, wearing my hair short, I've been teased relentlessly about it and I'm sick of it. Dr. _Tofu_ even made fun of me. I wanted high school to be different. I wanted to be more like Kasumi, the one everyone likes. Kasumi who's so mature, who's happy all the time. The one Dr. Tofu goes gaga over. I grew my hair out, I wore dresses, I tried not to get in fights as much, but did it work? No! Kuno made his _stupid_ speech and I started having to fight people ALL THE TIME! It isn't fair!"

Ranma didn't know what to do. She walked toward Akane hesitantly. Akane hugged her. Ranma wrapped her arm around her friend awkwardly and, after some hesitation, patted her on the back.

"Akane?" Ranma spoke after a moment. Akane was crying hot tears into her bare shoulder and didn't respond, so Ranma sighed and continued. "I think maybe you're bein' a bit unrealistic about a few things." When Akane didn't say anything for a while, Ranma continued. "I mean, ya say you wanna be like Kasumi, but you're not Kasumi. You're you. And you say you don't wanna be a tomboy, but I know you care a lot about the Art, else you wouldn't be so keen on bein' my student. If you're a girl and you study the Art, folks are gonna call you a tomboy, that's just the way things are. Some things ya just can't change. You just gotta learn ta live with it and work on the things ya got some say over."

Akane pulled away from Ranma, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I just want to be a normal girl."

Ranma frowned, looking at her friend. "No. I don't think ya want that. Not really." Ranma crossed her arms and sat down on the bench provided in the change room. "Ya know, Pops used to always goad me inta doin' stuff by callin' me a weak little girl."

"But you were a girl, why would he say that?"

"I was a boy, Akane, I've told you that before."

"Honestly, Ranma, just because you were raised as a boy doesn't mean you _were_ a boy, stop being so dramatic."

"I ain't bein' dramatic! I…" Ranma gave up. "Fine. Point is, Pops would say to me that girls were weak both physically and mentally, and I couldn't trust 'em or fight 'em because of that. And you know what? I think he was right."

"What?"

"Yeah. I think maybe most girls, normal girls, are weaker physically and mentally, but it ain't 'cause they're girls, it's cause they got fed the same shit I got fed and believed it. They think 'Oh I'm a girl so I gotta be dumb,' or 'I'm a girl so I can't be strong.' That's bullshit. Normal girls believe all that though. You can believe that if ya want and be just as normal as anyone else. Or you can be the martial artist I know you can be."

Akane was silent for moment, and then she said, "Ranma, you know a lot about the Art, and since I've met you, you've been a good friend, but…you don't know anything about what normal girls are like. So maybe you should keep your opinions on them to yourself for awhile."

Ranma blinked at that. She thought she had given some pretty good advice. "All I was sayin' was that bein' some stupid weak girl wearin' dresses all the time and lettin' people walk all over ya might not be somethin' ya really wanna pursue. That's all."

But Akane didn't seem mollified by this explanation at all. In fact she seemed almost angry. Her face was getting red and her left hand was gripping her right arm tightly, almost as if she were restraining herself. Then she smiled weakly. "I think I'll wait out in the lobby for you. Nishikigi-san will be back soon"

And with that she left, leaving a confused Ranma in her wake.

Sometime later, Nishikigi came back with Ranma's uniform and clothes. Ranma tried the uniform on. It fit perfectly, which vaguely bothered her. When she looked in the mirror, she saw a well put together teenage girl ready for school. She felt a little lost. Her hair was the only thing that kept her from looking completely normal. Bright red and in a pigtail. She smiled at that. She was a girl, but she was not a normal girl. Just because maybe girls were supposed to be weak, didn't mean _she_ had to be. And suddenly looking at the image in front of her was just like that first time in China, before she learned to hate her curse. She liked the way she looked. Just like she liked to look at her muscles in the mirror when she was a guy, only a little different. She moved around a little, posed a bit. On a lark, she made a sexy stance, which wasn't really all that sexy given the shapelessness of the Furinkan uniform, but it was still impressive, even if she couldn't keep a straight face. _I'm hot,_ she thought to herself. She crossed her arms under her breasts. "Well, of course I am. I'm Ranma Saotome."

She gave herself a last discerning look. "I wish I wasn't so damn short though."

Ranma had never been short before. It was always the female form that was short. Ranma touched the mirror. "This is me," she said, and while it scared her a little bit, mostly what she felt was pride. She had gone through a lot in this body. She had fought angry shopkeepers, Amazons, and belligerent drunks. Yeah she was short, and a girl, but she could kick ass all the same. And she was hot. "Way to go, Saotome," She said, giving herself a thumb's up, "you rock."

The dressing room was a little cramped so Ranma left the stall while still in uniform and began a slow kata in the hallway. The kata was a mix of tai chi, yoga and Aikido moves. It was a form designed by Ranma to fully explore her range of motion in various types of clothing with out stressing out the fabric too much. She had invented it after her curse due to the unfortunate opening of the top part of her gi during certain critical moves. So far, her Chinese clothes were the least restrictive of her movement. She doubted the uniform would be as free, but she needed to know exactly what moves she could get away with in the uniform and what she would have to avoid doing.

As it turned out the skirt wasn't too bad for fighting. Ranma could make a 120 degree angle with her legs with out any problem, which was good enough for most close range attacks. Any greater than 120 though and the skirt started to ride up on the leg, so that by the time Ranma got to 180 degrees in a full standing front split, she might as well have been wearing just her underwear for all the good the skirt did hiding her nether regions. Ranma decided that boxer shorts were the way to go for the school uniform. There was simply no way to fight without flashing somebody.

Satisfied that she knew how to move in the uniform now, Ranma went into the lobby to look for Nishikigi and hopefully get her old clothes back in some form or another.

Akane squealed as she exited the change room "Ehhh! You must go to the same school I do! My name is Akane, what's yours?"

Ranma smiled weakly. The play act made her feel a little uncomfortable. "It's Ranma, please take it easy on me." It wasn't one of Ranma's best performances, but she was a little distracted. She looked around the lobby. "Where's Nishikigi-san?"

"She went in the back. Is something wrong with the uniform?" Akane asked, falling out of the pretend scene herself.

"Nah, I just kinda wanna get my old clothes back. They got sentimental value."

"You have clothes with sentimental value? I guess you're a girl after all!" Akane laughed.

Ranma frowned. As much as she was ready to accept her girlhood for the next six months she still wasn't quite ready for direct verbal blows against her masculinity. Besides that, Akane was acting a little strange. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but it was a little creepy. "You can't carry much of a wardrobe on the road," Ranma explained, "so y'learn to appreciate clothes that work well for ya. It'll be cool if she can make them fit me better, but I hope I can still move around okay." Seeing that the door to the back was open, Ranma headed toward it. "I'm gonna see what's up."

The back room of the Nade was another world—a darker world of concrete, high ceilings, and exposed fluorescent lights. Long rows of dresses and other formal wear stretched out in thin aisle ways that seemed to end at a precipice beyond which all existence would cease. If Ranma looked at the track of fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling, she could see that there was indeed a wall and so there could only be a finite number of clothes, but if she looked straight in front of her again the illusion was back. It made Ranma feel a little dizzy. Shaking her head free of the feeling Ranma walked along the wall of the room, feeling that to be somehow safer and less exposed than walking down one of the aisles. Proceeding this way, Ranma came to something of a clearing amidst a copse of clothes where Nishikigi was inspecting what looked to be Ranma's shirt through a pair of thin spectacles.

"Nishikigi-san?" Ranma spoke.

Nishikigi's eyes met Ranma's gaze over her lenses. "I have a few questions for you, young lady. First, what is your name again?"

"Uh… Saotome Ranma. Am I in trouble or somethin'?"

"No, dear, not at all. Sorry for coming off that way. You really ought to work on speaking in a more feminine manner, though. You lived on the road?"

"Yeah," Ranma answered. "I…" Ranma switched from "ore" to "atashi", "I mean, yes, I have been on the road with my father for most my life." It was the first full sentence Ranma said using feminine speech patterns, and it twisted her guts up a little.

Nishikigi smiled appraisingly, "These stitches…you did them?"

"Yea---Yes."

" They were done by hand?"

"Well, yes. I didn't exactly have room in my backpack for a sewing machine did I?"

Nishikigi nodded. "This stitch here, is very neat, and this one...this one is almost, _almost_ mind you, expert level. I haven't seen work this promising in decades."

Ranma beamed. "What can I say? I'm the best." Ranma forgot to use feminine pronouns. Nishikigi frowned. Ranma was about to rephrase what she said, but the woman raised a hand.

"That's important to you, isn't it, Saotome Ranma?" Nishikigi asked rhetorically. "Being the best? I have to say, as far as your age group goes you probably are the best seamstress in Japan. There are women who study their entire lives and die before reaching your current level. These are sad cases of course, most anybody can attain an expert level in the craft if they exert themselves enough, but not at such an age."

"I don't think I'm _that_ good," Ranma protested.

"Saotome-san, there are machines that can sew. A machine can sew an expert stitch in an instant. Sewing by hand is a skill that is fast dying out. Oh there are the housewives and amateurs who dabble out of financial necessity or simple curiosity, but no one who truly pursues it as an art. Japan, with its electronic gadgets and brand name fashions has maybe two people who can practice the old art, and I fear that you and I are those two people."

"You can't be serious, I mean, one of the reasons I looked through that book on sewing was 'cause….was because I figured I could stitch a wound up if Pops…if my father or me got a bad cut or something. Doctors use stitches all the time that way and they don't use machines."

Nishikigi's eyes went wide. "You learned how to sew…by reading about it in a book?"

"Well, that and this one time I was passin' er…passing by an electronics shop, and they were playing a sewing special on their television sets, so I stopped for a couple minutes to check it out. The moves are pretty simple really. Not nearly as complicated as some of the other techniques I've had to learn. The muscle memory was kind of hard to develop though." What Ranma didn't say, because it was embarrassing and because it wouldn't have made any sense to the lady, was that she had found it much easier to do in her female form, because her hands were smaller and she could maneuver the needle more easily. Whenever she tried it as a male she felt like she was wearing thick gloves or something. She had practiced for about a month off and on in China, sewing rags together and tearing them apart. She figured it was good enough about the time Genma and she left for Japan, and she hadn't really bothered with it since, except that she found the dexterity she developed helped immensely when she was tying her pigtail with the dragon whisker.

"I see," Nishikigi looked disappointed. "I was going to offer to teach you to be a master seamstress, but apparently it's not something you're passionate about; it is merely the means to an end for you. I'll leave the offer on the table though, should you ever choose to take me up on it." She folded Ranma's shirt in three swift movements, placed it on top of the already folded pants and handed the clothes to Ranma. "I've hemmed the pants and taken in the shirt some. It should still be loose enough for fighting, but now it won't look like you're some tomboy cross dresser wearing her brother's clothes."

"Uh…thanks. You knew I was a martial artist?" Ranma was surprised because Nishikigi didn't move like someone who knew the Art at all.

"I think you'll find martial artists are a bit more common here in Nerima than in some other places you've been to. I could have gone that way myself, but I decided to concentrate on the Art and leave the martial stuff to livelier souls."

"No offense, I'm just a little curious. Just what can a master seamstress do that an expert seamstress can't?"

Nishikigi smiled. "I'll show you, girl, but don't go telling anybody. Last thing I need is the wrong kind of publicity." Nishikigi took two pieces of cloth and fastened them together with some pins, then she took a needle in her right hand and held up the strips of cloth with her left. She held her needle poised at the connection between the two cloths. "Watch closely," she said. Then she seemed to let go of the needle and there was a blur, punctuated by an intermittent flash of metal as the two pieces of cloth tightened together to became one in the span of three seconds.

"Wow." That was all that Ranma could say. She had never seen such rapid, yet subtle ki manipulation. Somehow Nishikigi was able to coerce the needle to travel along a thin line of ki as it passed in and out of the two cloths. It wasn't just ki manipulation, it was downright telekinesis! If instead of going the cloth, Nishikigi pointed the ki trail out toward a target…well she could get herself a nice collection of punctured skulls.

"I can tell what you're thinking. And that is precisely why I use this strictly for sewing. I am just a harmless old woman who owns a dress shop. I am not someone anyone should challenge."

Ranma nodded slowly. "You have my word, on my honor as a martial artist, that your secret is safe with me, Nishikigi-sensei." Ranma bowed deeply. When she rose she grimaced and looked away. "About payment? I think the Tendos have some kind of account with you?"

Nishikigi sighed and sat down behind her desk. "No I'm afraid it's just the middle sister Nabiki who has the account with me. She called earlier today to inform me that she was separating her funds from the rest of her family's."

"I could work for you! I could pick stuff up, keep the wrong people out, that sort of thing." Ranma said.

Nishikigi smiled, her eyes twinkling a little. "I know what you're about, girl. That tactic isn't going to work. I'm only going to teach you if you renounce martial arts for the rest of your life. Are you prepared to do that?"

Ranma grit her teeth. She wanted to learn that technique! But martial arts was her life. It wasn't worth giving up everything just for one lousy technique. Then again, it was far from _lousy_... Ranma shook her head. She shouldn't even be considering it. She thought desperately of ways she could trick the old lady into teaching it to her anyway, but everything she thought of seemed completely dishonorable, and some of the ideas were almost evil. When Ranma was halfway through planning out how to steal one of Nabiki's cameras and how she could set it up so she could catch Nishikigi perform her technique from the optimum angle, she stopped herself. She took a breath. "No," She said, "I cannot abandon my Art. Do you have anything else?"

"My brother, Ryu, has a restaurant down the street. He always needs workers. If he agrees to it, you can work for him and your earnings will pay for the uniform. It should only take about a month."

"A _month_?"

Nishikigi shrugged. "My skills are in high demand. I feel I'm entitled to a healthy profit. By the way, how much can the average martial artist make in a year? I'm just curious."

Ranma growled at the old lady's thinly veiled jab at her chosen profession. Changing the subject she asked, "Does he have any secret techniques I should know about?"

"Ryu? No, nothing to speak of, unless you count the ancient art of sneaking up behind you and telling you what you're doing wrong."

Ranma chuckled in spite of herself. "What's your given name? In case he asks."

Nishikigi raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. "Guess."

Ranma shook her head.

"Amiko. My full name is Nishikigi Amiko. Please don't make me repeat that."

Ranma snickered. Nishikigi's parents had named her "Knit girl". "So do you…"

"I sew. I do not knit. If it does not involve the use of a thin sharp needle, I do not do it. Now leave, before I decide to stop being reasonable."

Ranma complied, "Thank you, Nishikigi-sensei, and good bye."

"You really are a fast learner, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

Nishikigi waved her off, "Nothing, just an old lady's meandering thoughts. Good bye, Saotome-san."

With that, Ranma bowed and left.

"Well you look happy, what happened?" Akane asked when Ranma entered the lobby again.

"Well, long story short I have a job, and you do too, I guess, if you want it. Nishikigi-sensei said I should work over at her brother's place down the street to pay off my uniform. She said he always needs people, so he'll probably hire you too. Of course it means it will be a month before I can actually use any of the money myself, but it's better than nothing, I guess."

Akane gave Ranma a strange look. "That sounds good. That means we won't have to search all over Nerima for a job. We should go shopping before we head over there first though. You need more clothes."

"I think I have enough clothes, really. I don't want to waste any money." Ranma thinned her eyes, "Okay what is it, Akane? You've been looking at me strangely since I got out."

Akane smiled and shook her head, "It's nothing. It's just, all of a sudden you're talking like a girl. It's just a little odd."

"I haven't…I…I ain't been talkin' like a girl. That's crazy." Ranma said feeling blood rush to her head. What Akane said was true. She had been using feminine pronouns for herself and even using proper pronunciations. "You really are a fast learner, aren't you?" Nishikigi had said. Now Ranma understood. It was really subtle but every time she used the wrong pronoun or the wrong pronunciation of a word Nishikigi would frown or look away, and every time she used the feminine pronoun and the right pronunciation she would smile and look him in the eye. She had been stroking her ego to get her to talk better! "That catty old bitch!" Ranma exclaimed.

"What?" Akane asked.

"Nothin'. Just somethin' the old lady said. Come on." Ranma left the store and Akane followed.

"Ranma?" Akane spoke once they were outside.

"Yeah?"

"My sister, Kasumi? She's a normal girl, at least by your standards. My friends... they're normal too. I don't remember much about my mother, but I do remember she wore dresses and didn't get into fights. Really, just about every woman I have ever liked or respected has been 'normal.' Maybe I can't be exactly like them and still practice the Art, but I'm going to get as close as I can. And I don't appreciate you bashing that lifestyle just because you've given up on it."

"I ain't given up on anything," Ranma said in a knee-jerk response. She managed to recover somewhat by saying. "I never wanted to be a girl like that, so I never gave up on it."

"You agreed last night you'd let me teach you how to be a girl," Akane reminded her in a quiet voice.

"Not really. I said I'd..." but Ranma didn't finish. Akane's hurt expression halted her argument. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just, I never wanted that, so I can't see why you would want that." Ranma shook her head, "Look, I'll try to act more like a girl, okay? I just don't see what the point is. I mean, I don't remember _my_ mother." Ranma surprised herself with that last bit.

"Not at all?"

"I just have this vague memory of her, just before Pops took me away." They were alone, young Ranma sitting on his mother's lap. She was crying, and she told him that she loved him. Ranma kept silent about this though.

Ranma had walked about ten steps down the street in silence when she felt a cool breeze across her shins and stopped. She looked down.

"What is it?" Akane asked.

Ranma growled softly in frustration, her melancholy forgotten. "It's nothin'. You got my pack right?" Akane nodded. "Give it to me, please." Akane handed Ranma's satchel to her. Ranma opened it, put her Chinese clothes inside, and carried it by its handle. She had planned on wearing her Chinese clothes out, but she had gotten used to the uniform so much she forgot she was wearing it. Ranma had always been proud of her ability to adapt to any situation, but this was a little much.

Still, it was kind of strangely neat to be wearing the same thing as Akane. It was like they were on the same team. They were in the same boat. They were both girl students at Furinkan. Ranma didn't feel so much like some foreign stranger anymore. She smiled at Akane, "So, we still friends?"

Akane smiled back. By way of response, she linked her arm with Ranma's and leaned in to her playfully. Ranma leaned back. There wasn't any pressure here. They were just two girlfriends from school hanging out together. And Ranma didn't want that to end.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Ranma let Akane take her clothes shopping, which was oddly fun. Ranma was determined to get over her aversion to wearing girl's clothes, and so saw the whole thing as a training exercise, though in deference to the sex of her birth, Ranma deigned not to buy any dresses. There were one or two outfits that were close, but these were some kind of flexible solid color legging with a loose, but feminine top, almost like a closely fitting tunic, which didn't really count as a dress to Ranma. She didn't like how the air hit her legs in dresses, it felt weird. Jeans, on the other hand, were a no go for the same reason she didn't wear them as a male: they weren't flexible enough. In the end, Ranma only got about four outfits, and Akane got two. All of the clothes together still weren't as expensive as Ranma's uniform though. Nishikigi was making a killing.

After the outer clothing was taken care of, Akane helped Ranma buy some unmentionables. Because the articles of clothing were unmentionables, they shall not be mentioned here, except to say that Ranma had never been so embarrassed, and yet at the same time oddly proud in her entire life. Akane, meanwhile started to develop a nasty scowl. Ranma wasn't entirely sure why, though it seemed to have something to do with the fact that Akane's unmentionables appeared earlier in the alphabet than Ranma's unmentionables. At any rate the scowl didn't quite go away until she and Ranma were back in their school uniforms and standing before the store front of Yui's Yakitori.

"Why is it called Yui's Yakitori?" Akane asked. "I though the place was owned by Nishikigi's brother, Ryu."

Ranma shrugged. "Must be his wife's name or something."

Some discussion has been made concerning other realities, so it is perhaps fair to make a few comparisons here. First, if Ranma had not taken the potion she would of course not have been standing in front of Yui's Yakitori with Akane. She would have been at the Tendo residence practicing outside the dojo while Akane crushed blocks inside and she would have been a he. . Second, he would have missed almost a full day of school after a fight with Kuno that involved Ranma's girl side and a kettle of hot water. And finally, after steaming all day about events Akane would have broken six pencils in frustration and would be well on her way to developing a healthy distaste for her aquatransexual companion.

Instead, the differences can be summarized in the following scene.

The two girls stand outside Yui's Yakitori, arms intertwined and smiling. They walk toward the entrance, which causes some confusion as they both grab for the door at the same time. Both of them invite the other to go first, and the issue is eventually decided with a hasty game of Jan Ken Pon, known in the west as rock, paper, scissors. These are obviously two friends, perhaps even best friends.

They've only known each other for two days.

Wherefore this chumminess? You could chalk it up to loneliness, to the collection of similarities and differences that fit the two together like slices of bread in a grilled cheese sandwich, or…to luck.

The last possibility gains a little on the other options when one considers that the Jan Ken Pon match wasn't quite as idle a game as it might have been. To the extent that excessive training can be said to be against the rules, Ranma cheated a little. She was able to see, an instant before Akane made her move, which sign she was going to make and was able to compensate. None of which would have much mattered except that Ranma then said, "Man, Akane I can read you like a book. You've got to hide your moves more."

Akane, for various reasons we won't review here, would not have accepted this from a boy. As it was, it caused her to scowl a little, before she forced herself to smile about it and say, "You'll have to teach me then. After you, sensei." Akane then opened the door for Ranma purposely seeming to misunderstand the terms of the game.

Ranma if she were a guy, would have insisted on holding the door, because that was the terms of the match and Akane was a girl and so on. Of course male Ranma wouldn't have had the opportunity or the inclination to hold open the door in the first place, but the point is that what would have made him defensive about his masculinity, now only made her chuckle at Akane's gall. It was primarily Akane addressing Ranma as sensei that defused any protests that she might have had though. The incident represented something on the order of five blowups narrowly avoided.

The restaurant Ranma and then Akane entered was decorated with lots of warm browns and off whites. Despite the specialty of the restaurant being yakitori, which is basically cooked chicken kabobs, there was a modest sushi bar at the front and a buffet at the center of the restaurant with a variety of dishes. It didn't seem too busy, but then it was still fairly early in the evening. A chalk board on an easel advertized an "all you can eat" special.

Akane tried to get the attention of one of the waitresses, but the woman was balancing four different platters on various parts of her anatomy and was far too busy to pay attention to anyone who wasn't sitting down. The place wasn't swishy enough for a maitre d. Ranma sniffed at this a bit in dismissal. Yui's was maybe a notch above a fast food joint, not at all like where she worked in China.

Ranma led Akane to the sushi bar where the chef was rolling up rice and fish into seaweed paper. "Hey," Ranma said, "You hirin'?"The sushi chef was very quiet and pleasant in a suspiciously Chinese manner. He was only a few inches taller than Ranma and stopped what he was doing, smiled and bowed and indicated with his arm for Ranma and Akane to follow him. He gestured to a door marked private.

"Thanks," Ranma said and the sushi chef bowed and went back to work.

"It says 'Private'," Akane noted looking at the door.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

Ranma turned her attention from the door to Akane's confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"We can't go in there," Akane stated as if it were obvious.

"Why not?" Ranma asked, confused herself now.

"It's marked 'Private!'"

"You said that already, what has that got to do with anything?"

"Don't you know what 'private' means?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, it means 'this is the manager's office, not the bathroom.'"

"No," Akane shook her head. "It means 'don't go in or you might catch someone doing something perverted.'"

"That's in a furo. Restaurants are different. Besides that's what knocking's for." Ranma rapped on the door loudly. "Hey! Manager-san! You doin' anythin' perverted in there? 'Cause otherwise we're comin' in!"

Ranma heard a voice say "The door's unlocked," and turned to Akane with a look that said "see?" She moved to open the door.

"Wait," Akane said.

"What?"

"He didn't say he wasn't doing anything perverted."

Ranma rolled her eyes, opened the door, and went in.

Ryu Nishikigi sat behind his desk smoking a cigarette. He had salt and pepper grey hair in a ponytail and looked like he had been a bishonen type when he was young. Even now he had a certain charisma about him. His eyes, crinkled at the sides as he read some stack of papers looked sharp, but he had a slight smile to his lips which softened his expression.

"What do you want?"

Akane bowed. "Please excuse us, Manager-san, but we were wondering if we could apply for a job."

"We're not hiring anybody." Ryu Nishikigi said.

"But your sister said you always need…" Akane began.

"I always need workers," Ryu snapped, "not high school kids who can only be here on the weekends and don't show up even then." Ryu looked down at his ledger."Get lost."

"We'll work afternoons too." Ranma said. "I've got restaurant experience and Akane…" Ranma stopped. She just realized there was little to no chance of Akane getting hired.

"Listen. I know you mean well." Ryu said in a tone that suggested the opposite. "But every time I hire high school students I regret it. Especially students from Furinkan high school. So unless you're willing to quit school or something you can forget about working for me."

"Okay," Ranma said. "What about if we wore costumes and advertised for you or somethin' ? How could we screw that up?"

"You'd find a way. This one kid I heard about, she had a fight in her costume. Completely ruined it. Sullied the image of the restaurant too."

Ranma had to agree that sort of thing was all too likely. "You know, you're right. Akane and me, we get into fights all the time. But that could be a good thing. We could be like bouncers for you, keep the riff raff out of your restaurant."

"The goal here is to minimize the damage. If you're in here starting fights that's not going minimize shit."

"I got experience," Ranma said, "I worked as bouncer in China. If ya hire me ya ain't gonna regret it."

"I'm sorry but you don't exactly look like much to me. A high school girl isn't going to keep anyone from starting anything."

"But that's just it!" Ranma said using her normal vernacular, "They won't see me comin' I'll just incapacitate 'em and haul 'em outta here. And I can work as a waitress as long as nothin's goin' on. Just give me a day I'll show you I can work."

"Alright, Red, you at least talk a good game, I'll give you a shot. But what about your friend here?"

"I can cook!" Akane said in the sort of exuberant, youthful tone that is so charming in young children when they say they are princesses or space monsters, but which steadily becomes more disturbing with age.

Ranma laughed nervously, "Um, she's…still… learning that skill. Look she's one of the most popular girls at school. If you hire her, a whole bunch of students will come just to see her. And she's strong too."

Akane's scowl returned just then. Ranma frowned herself for a moment while she tried to figure out how to take back her compliment without making it into an insult. Or was it the comment on her cooking that Akane was upset about?

Thankfully Ryu spoke just then: "I don't know…" he said. "You say my sister recommended you to me?"

"Yeah," Ranma said, "your sister, Nishikigi Amiko."

Ryu's eyebrows lifted. "Well, if she told you her given name then you must have made an impression." Ryu still seemed unsure.

"Just give us a day," Ranma bargained, "You can fire us right after if you want."

"Alright. I don't know why I keep doing this. But I'll give you a chance. Each of you get an apron out of the supply closet, and start working the tables."

"Where's the supply closet?" Akane asked.

"It's right next to the restroom." Ryu answered.

"Where's the restroom?" Akane asked.

"Just get out of here before I fire you." Ryu grumbled.

~~~~~To be continued in chapter 5~~~~~


	5. Sex and Violence

Oyu no Ranma

Ch.5: Sex and Violence

~~~~~*~~~~~

Akane and Ranma found the supply closet eventually and took out the green aprons with the restaurant logos on them and put them on. A bald, muscular man with a tattoo of skull on his left shoulder approached them both. "Boss said you'd be scrounging around the supply closet. Look I'm going to have to have you start right away since we're a little busy. My name's Sentaro Sato. I'm the assistant manager, but I'm also the kitchen cook, so you'll be pretty much on your own on the floor. Follow me." Sentaro led them to a window that looked into the kitchen. "You see this metal wheel thingie with all the paperclips on it?"

Ranma and Akane nodded

"What _you_," Sentaro indicated Ranma, "are going to do is get the orders from that side of the room and clip them to this thing, ring the bell," Sentaro gave the desk bell a quick tap which made a clear ringing sound. "And then turn it so the order faces the kitchen. Then I'm going to put food here on a tray, and you're going to carry it back to the people who order it. We clear?"

Ranma nodded.

"What am I going to do?" Akane asked.

"What _you _are going to do is get orders from _that_ side of the room and clip them to the wheel. Then you're going turn so the order faces the kitchen. Then I'm going to put food out here, and you're going to take it to the people who ordered it. Got it?"

"Wait. What if I get Ranma's order by mistake?"

"That won't happen because you'll match the food with the order and the order with the table. If the table isn't in your section then it's either Ranma's section or Keiko's and you just leave it alone."

When Sentaro mentioned Keiko, he gestured to the very thin, very tired looking girl with a short tuft of a ponytail they had seen when they first entered. She was taking someone's order from the middle of the restaurant.

"But how do we know what table number goes to which section?" Akane asked.

Sentaro pointed to a black and white diagram of the restaurant floor that showed the sections of the restaurant and the numbers of the tables. "You look on here. Or you look at the number that's attached to the table."

"There's a number attached to each table?"

"Yes," Sentaro answered as if he were introducing the concept of sharing to a kindergartner, "There is a number attached to each table."

Akane walked over to the closest table she peered at it for a moment, and then returned with a smile on her face. "Wow. I never noticed that before, but you're right!" she exclaimed.

Ranma laughed nervously. "So I'm numbers…" Ranma checked the diagram, "Fifteen through twenty-one?"

"Yes, and Akane, you're going to be serving one through seven. Keiko is working 8 through fourteen. Easy, right?"

"I think so…" Ranma said. She was a little worried about Akane.

"Then get to work."

Ranma was about to head to her first table, but she noticed Akane looked a little lost. "Get your table's orders, Akane," Ranma whispered nudging her.

"Oh. Right! Sorry, I just…I never did this before."

"It's okay, it takes a little getting used to. You'll get it." Ranma said to reassure her friend. She just wished she could reassure herself. Akane was a good person, but the girl had been coddled way too much. There was a good chance Akane would get them both fired, and Ranma couldn't help her since she was going to be on the other side of the restaurant.

She took a breath and walked to her first table, hoping for the best. Her first table was easy. Two girls, eating after shopping. One had her hair in a ponytail, the other a pageboy. "Hi, Welcome to Yui's Yakitori, my name's Ranma and I'll be your server. Can I start ya out with somethin' to drink?"

"Just water for me, thanks," Pageboy said.

"Same here, but I'd like a little lemon,"

"How little ya want it?" Ranma asked. The girl looked a bit confused for a moment. Ranma laughed. "I'm just kiddin' I'm new here so I don't know if they got lemons, but I'll see what I can do okay?" On her pad Ranma wrote "table 16: 1 water, 1 water w/ lemon….no sense of humor" in her frantic chicken scratch. Then she went to get the waters. She found the glasses and the water tap easily enough, but she couldn't see any lemons.

"Oi, Sen! You got any lemons back there?" Ranma yelled through the kitchen window. A lemon flew threw the air straight at Ranma's head. Were it not for her reflexes, the lemon might have broken her nose. Instead it just made her hand sting a bit when she caught it. "Uh, how 'bout a knife?" Ranma asked when she realized she'd have to cut the lemon. A knife went flying through the window at the same speed as the lemon. Ranma caught it, threw the lemon into the air and sliced it into eight sections, which fell on the counter in a starburst pattern. "Thanks, Sen!" Ranma said and threw the knife back into the kitchen. Ranma heard a thud. Probably the knife sticking into some wood surface, but just to be sure Ranma asked, "Hey you okay in there?"

"Remind me to schedule a meeting with you about kitchen safety," Sentaro grumbled from the other side of the wall.

"Right back at ya, buddy." Ranma laughed. She put one of the lemon wedges on the rim of a glass and put the other in a bowl she found in a stack near the silverware. Then she went out to the table carrying the cups in two hands with the bowl resting on the top of the cup without the lemon wedge. "There ya go," She said as she put the drinks and lemon bowl down. "I'm gonna take care of this other table and then I'll get your meal order okay?"

The girls nodded. So far Ranma only had two tables to serve in her section. The other table, table 20 was easy. They just wanted sodas. After Ranma took care of them she decided to check on Akane to see how she was doing. Waitressing was pretty simple as long as there wasn't a rush, but still…

Akane looked like a fish just before getting gutted. The table she was serving had three salary men and an office lady. "Okay," Akane said "Um… you wanted tea?"

"No" Salary Man 1 said. "I wanted coffee. Jiro wanted tea."

"Okay, um…and you're Jiro?" Akane pointed to Salary Man 2 "No I'm Akira I wanted water."

"And I wanted a diet cola," the office lady said trying to be helpful and instead only confusing Akane further.

Watching her new friend try to put all the information down on her pad was just too painful for Ranma. While she was writing things down Ranma ran to the soda fountain and got the water and soda for Akira and the O.L. She set the drinks down at the table, and Akane shot her a look of panic and malice.

Ranma had only seen that particular mix of emotions one other time. Shampoo, just before giving her the kiss of death. Gulping, Ranma said. "Sorry 'kane. I just figured you could use some help. You never done this before. Um… the tea and coffee are over there by the soda fountain. Make sure ya get some cream too."

Akane's expression wavered, then softened. "Thanks, Ranma," she said. She didn't quite mean it all the way though, which worried Ranma. When Akane's brow furrowed with determination, Ranma worried even more. Images of the explosion Akane caused while trying to boil water flashed in her brain.

"Akane." Ranma stopped her friend with a hand on her tense and surprisingly muscular shoulder before she could damage anything and get them both fired, "Remember. Ya gotta empty your cup before ya fill it again."

" I know that! I…" Ranma tightened her grip. "Oh…" Akane said. She sighed. "Could you show me how to get the hot drinks?"

Ranma nodded. "Sure. You could probably do it without my help, but ya looked a little crazy eyed."

Ranma showed Akane how to fill the cups with the hot liquid without spilling it everywhere and how to put the drinks on a platter with the cream so that everything was balanced and she wouldn't drop everything when she tried to carry it all. Ranma didn't realize there was so many things she had learned back in China. She had thought she wasn't doing much of anything in that restaurant but apparently she had been training pretty hard.

Helping Akane took about five minutes so Ranma was apologetic when she got back to her table. "Sorry, I was helpin' out a friend. Are ya ready to order now?"

Ranma took the orders, put the ticket on the metal circular thingie and spun it so the ticket faced the kitchen. Then she rang the bell. The other table just wanted the buffet so that was easy, and Ranma got drinks for the new people that sat at table 18. Things were going pretty smoothly. It was as if she had just left Tasuke's place. She was busy though, and didn't notice when a heavy set man in glasses sat in Keiko's section and ordered the all-you-can-eat special.

She also didn't notice that Akane had gotten in trouble again, until she grabbed Ranma's arm with a wild-eyed expression on her face. "There's too many of them! I can't keep it all straight! Help!"

Akane now had four tables to serve in her section. To her credit, she had gotten them all their drinks but she hadn't served any food yet. The food was sitting on the counter next to the window, getting cold.

"Dang it Akane! Ya gotta move this stuff out! They're gonna complain!" Ranma picked up two of the plates and brought them to the first table she got to. "Did any of you order the…" Ranma looked at the plate, "Rice and yakitori?" The table all shook their heads. "Okay what about the chicken teriyaki?" one of the customers raised his hand. Ranma set the plate in front of him. "Sorry for the wait" she called as she went to the next table. The Rice and yakitori was at the second table. Akane was right behind Ranma using the same method to determine who ordered what and everyone got what they wanted.

There was a minor rumbling in Keiko's section, but Ranma didn't pay it any attention as she ran over to her own section to make sure her customers were still okay. A few more people had sat down so Ranma asked for their drinks and got them from the soda fountain. On the way back she saw Keiko arguing with a stocky man in glasses.

"Yes, sir I know it's called the all you can eat special but that doesn't mean you can empty the entire buffet in one trip!"

Ranma closed her eyes. It couldn't be. She opened them again. It was. Genma Saotome, her father and sensei stood up "I assure you that I have not taken more than I can eat, girl. I can prove it to you right now." Genma took a stick of skewered chicken and through a practiced motion employing all the finesse and poise garnered over thirty years of Martial arts training, he engulfed the entire queue of chicken. A few short seconds later the morsels had been chewed and swallowed and Genma had picked up another kabob.

Ranma sat the drinks down on a table and walked up to her father. "Hey, Pops," she greeted him through clenched teeth.

"Oh hey Ranma! I hadn't the faintest notion that you were working here! What an odd coincidence, don't you think? Ha ha!" Genma rubbed the back of his head. Then he seemed to get an idea "Hey! You could help me. See this girl here doesn't seem to think I can eat this." Genma indicated the table which was piled with food, four plates high in places.

"He can eat it all," Ranma said to Keiko, "I've seen 'im eat more'n that before. I'm the only one who's ever beaten him in an eat off."

"What are you talking about, boy? You never beat me once in the gustatory arts!"

"Um…why did he just call you boy?" Keiko asked, "Are you a cross dresser or something?"

Ranma chose to ignore her, and instead addressed her father. "I guess you don't remember that time you were drunk in Hong Kong? I totally out ate you."

"I don't believe you. Besides, you're a girl now. Your stomach is smaller."

"You wanna bet?" Ranma said. Let's go outside. I'll take this food with me, and we can see who the better eater is once and for all."

"You're on."

Genma got up and stormed out of the restaurant.

Ranma closed the door and locked it.

"Well that's great," Keiko said, but how are the other customers going to come in?"

"You got a bucket somewhere around here?"

"Yeah, in the kitchen."

Ranma ran into the kitchen. Sentaro was grilling some yakitori and listening to Japanese Death Metal. "What are you doing in here?" he yelled at Ranma.

"I'm getting water. Where's a bucket?"

"Find your own bucket. I'm working here!"

Ranma looked around and located a fire bucket next to the refrigerator door. She took the bucket, placed it under the sink and filled it with cold water. When it was about half full she turned off the tap, yelled "Thanks!" to Sentaro and ran out of the kitchen and to the door outside. Genma was banging on the door and beginning to threaten violence. Ranma unlocked the door and immediately threw the bucket of water on her father, turning him into a panda.

"Sorry, sir, Ranma said to her pandified padre, taking advantage of her newly gained skill in feminine speech patterns, "we don't allow pets here. You're going to have to leave. Unless you want me to ring up animal control?"

Genma looked as if he were about to say something, but then he deflated and waddled down the road in search of a kettle of hot water.

About half an hour after Ranma took care of Genma, two older girls entered the restaurant. "Hey, Keiko!," the taller one with the pink streaks in her hair said. "Who are the new girls?"

The other girl looked like she had spent too long in a tanning booth. She confronted Ranma as she was on her way back from at table. "You're not taking my job away, are you, shrimp?"

The overly tanned girl, was maybe a centimeter taller than Ranma. "So what if I am, Extra Crispy?" Ranma said before she could think better of it.

"Extra crispy…Junko, this shrimp's making fun of my tan!"

"Maybe we should show her how to make tempura, eh Chaiko?" The taller girl cracked her knuckles.

"You want to fight?" Ranma asked, incredulous. "Hey I don't mind fightin' just lets do it outside where we won't get fired."

"Don't give her too much trouble, Junko," Keiko advised. "She helped me out with a difficult customer. She's one of us."

"She isn't one of us until we say she's one of us!" Chaiko snapped.

"Hey!" Akane said walking over "If you too are going to fight Ranma, you're going to fight me too, you got that? Two against one isn't fair."

"Get out of my face, ugly," Junko pointed a finger at Akane as she said this.

Just then, Ryu Nishikigi appeared behind Junko. "Ladies, ladies, settle down already. Gods. I swear! You get more than three girls in a room, it's like they turn into harpies no matter how cute they are." Ryu rubbed his temples. " I can't believe I actually have more than three waitresses in the restaurant at the same time. It's like a freakin' cathouse in here!"

Ranma stiffened. "_What_ kinda house?" She looked anxiously around for any sign of felines.

Ryu pointedly ignored Ranma. "Okay Red, and er other girl. How about you leave early? "

"Do we have the job?" Akane asked.

"Just as long as you don't screw up. When can you work?"

"4 to 10 for three days out of the work week and on weekends," Ranma said, still a little distracted by the "cathouse" comment.

Akane nodded that this was a good set up for her as well.

"You don't want the full week?"

"Some crap might come up." Ranma said. "Need to have some time to do homework n' stuff."

"I'm paying you the minimum amount for a salary, and if you get any tips from tourists they go straight to me, you got that?" Ryu said.

Ranma and Akane nodded.

"Good, then leave, before the estrogen in the room turns the walls pink."

~~~~~*~~~~~

"You're idiots. Both of you," Nabiki told them when they got back.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Ranma crossed her arms. She had changed into her old outfit back at Yui's , but Nishikigi's alterations gave it a distinctly feminine cut. The short sleeves didn't hang over her shoulders like they used to, and it opened up a little at the top giving it a lower neckline. The new cut distracted Ranma briefly but she recovered quickly and glared up at Nabiki. _Damn it, _she thought_, I'm too freakin' short._

"Ne-Go-Ti-Ate! Didn't you learn anything on the road?" Nabiki turned to her sister, "And I don't know how many times I've told you, Akane-chan, but you still agreed to the first offer this Ryu guy made?"

"I guess maybe we can't all be money grubbers like you, Nabiki," Akane said, hands on her hips.

"Somebody has to care about money around here! Maybe if I wasn't the only one, I wouldn't have to do some of the things I do that upset you so much."

"Hey, it ain't Akane's fault ya ain't got no decency. Lay off her!" Ranma stepped toward Nabiki.

Nabiki smiled. "You look a lot nicer, Ranma-chan. Bit more like a girl. My sister's going to figure out who you really are soon enough, though." Nabiki leaned into Ranma's ear and whispered. "Freak." Then she laced her fingers behind her head and walked away with a look of superiority.

Ranma wasn't sure who or what she could safely hit, but she wanted to hit _something_. "I'm going to the dojo," she told Akane.

Akane nodded, "Let me go put my gi on, I'll join you."

Ranma was met by Genma in human form as he descended the stairs. He looked a bit serious "Ranma," he said, "come meditate with me." Shrugging, Ranma followed her father to the dojo.

For Ranma and Genma, meditation isn't meditation unless it is done upside down on one's head. Due to the almost excessively acrobatic nature of the Saotome school of Anything Goes, maintaining balance while inverted is almost as important as balancing right side up. So while they sat crosslegged and cross armed they were actually resting on their heads, their rears pointed to the heavens in an inverted lotus. This wasn't a particularly comfortable position, but there were one or two hidden perks. For instance, because hot air rises, it was possible for Ranma or Genma to fart without the stench ever reaching either martial artists' nostrils.

Woe onto he or she that, unmindful of the sanctity of meditation, disturbs the masters during this exercise.

Genma put his hands on the floor steadying himself so he could talk. "I didn't appreciate you kicking me out of the restaurant today, Ranma," Genma said.

Ranma steadied herself the same way and responded, "Aw, Pops, you were causing a scene. If I let you eat up the place you woulda got me n' Akane fired."

"Ranma, I'm your father and your sensei. You should show me respect."

"Yeah, well when you act like a father or a sensei I respect you. When ya act like a lazy ass panda, I'll treat ya like one."

Genma got up and, using his foot, he sat Ranma right-side up. "Ranma, I am not the best parent. I realize that. I'm trying to be better, but you've got to meet me halfway. I've got three new students right now and I can't have them seeing you be disrespectful to me."

Ranma wasn't really listening. Her thoughts were on a different track. Akane's mom and her recipe book. "What was my mom like, Pops?"

"Your mother's dead, Ranma you need to forget about her."

"How can I forget about her if I don't even _know_ anything about her?" Ranma had used "atashi" instead of "ore", she realized a second after she spoke. She had talked like a girl in front of her father.

Genma was silent for a long moment. "You sound like some flighty schoolgirl, boy. I thought you were tougher than that. This is a hard trial you've set for yourself, but you've got to keep your manhood intact. You have to be strong, Ranma. Life is hard and as martial artists our live are fraught with perils and growf growf growf growf."

Ranma had kicked a fire bucket onto her father's head. "If ya ain't gonna say anythin' worthwhile ya might as well go be a panda somewhere."

Genma-panda made several noises of protest, but they were just that, noises and they had no effect on Ranma. Her slip up though, that had shaken her to her core.

After Genma left, Ranma performed a few evening katas, trying to forget about what happened. Mostly stretches and flexibility exercises but also a few forms from the more stylized martial arts she had studied. Akane came in the dojo after some point and watched. When Ranma completed the last kata Akane looked wide eyed at her.

"I knew you were better than me, but I had no idea…why didn't you say something?" Akane asked. "That was…it was beautiful."

Ranma shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I like that one. I can do it better as a girl so I've been practicing it more recently, but I've known it since I was ten."

Akane nodded. "My dad's all about the basics. You see he even put it on the wall." Akane motioned to the hiragana characters on the wall of the dojo. "I've asked him to teach me some of the more complicated forms but he always says that if you learn the basics, the rest will come naturally."

"That kinda explains a few things to me. I mean, when we were sparring I could tell every move you were going to make. You've got great stances. Almost perfect, really, but they don't make much sense in a real fight with a martial artist. You're too easily read."

"What should I have done when you started dodging my moves like that?" Akane asked.

Ranma shook her head. "Your first mistake in that fight was that you started right away. Ya gotta analyze your opponent. Let's pretend we're about to spar and I'll try to show ya what I mean."

"Okay," Akane said and got into an offensive stance.

"Now if you notice, I didn't take a stance right away." Ranma said. Indeed she had not she was just standing casually as she talked to Akane. "Why is that?"

"I don't know! I thought you were a beginner or something when you did that last time."

"Well, first off I'm tryin' to figure out what you're gonna do. I don't want to set up for a move until I'm pretty sure it's gonna work. Second ya gotta understand I've been in a lot of street fights. Now street fights can get pretty bad, but a lot of times they get broken up by the cops or somethin' before they get anywhere. If ya look like you're in a fight, well, the cops are gonna arrest ya. But if you're just standin' around mindin' your own bee's wax, well then it was just the other guy who was fightin' and you can get off scott free. Get it?"

"But we aren't in a street fight, we're sparring."

"Yeah, well, it's also a psych out. Both ways. I mean, on one hand if it looks like I ain't fightin' then you're not gonna expect me to fight. And if I don't make a fighting stance, then I'm not as likely to go all out. It's kind of a personal reminder to hold back a bit. When ya can kill someone with your bare hands that gets kinda important. So, way I figure it you got two areas where you're a little weak, subtlety and control."

"So how do I get better at that?"

"Well you got different strengths than I got. Your kind of fightin' is slow and powerful. Mine is more fast and sneaky. I like mine better so I'd say you gotta work on speed, but that's if you want to learn my way. It'd probably be better if you focused on your strengths. If you want to use a slow and powerful style then you gotta learn to stay still and let other people come to you. Then you have to have a very precise stance that can deflect whatever anybody is gonna through at you, but it can't be obvious otherwise they'll find your weaknesses too easily. So really you've got to be able to flow into your stances from a neutral position quickly. If I jump you gotta block high or be prepared to make a high grab and throw. If I rush you, you gotta be able to prepare with an upper cut or dodge at just the right time. If ya don't move fast your gotta look fast. You gotta learn to read moves like crazy. Finally ya gotta be able to withstand a lot of pain, because you're gonna have to block a lot and so you're gonna get your arms all banged up."

"But what if I need to fight someone, like they stole something and I want it back , but they don't rush me?"

"That's where insults come in handy. If you can get someone to come after you that's the best thing. But if you can't, you gotta be really careful on the approach. Just like you gotta have a precise stance when you're standing still, you gotta pay close attention to someone's stance when you're coming toward them. You gotta be able to predict what they're going to do when you come at them, and that's a whole lot harder than judging what someone is going to do when they're attacking you. That's another reason I don't use much of a stance. When you're good enough you can make your stances vaguer, throw your opponent of the scent, but you gotta practice."

"Could we spar some now?"

"Sure, but you better do a few exercises to warm up. Pops always tries to attack me when I'm unaware, so I can be prepared for a battle at anytime. That's important if you're on the run from amazons all the time, but it's still kinda dangerous."

"You were on the run from amazons?"

"Yeah. It's a long story. I'll tell it to ya sometime, maybe."

Akane sat down to do some stretches. "Why not now?"

Ranma grimaced. "Yeah, I s'pose now's as good a time as any. Besides if Shampoo shows up you might want a head's up."

"Shampoo?" Akane repeated.

Ranma sighed "I don't know how much ya know about China, but there are some things they just don't put in text books or travel brochures. Ya see there are Amazons in China, and most of 'em are named after English hygiene products."

Ranma told Akane about her experience with the Amazons while Akane stretched. When the story was over, Akane shook her head. "I would never believe it, if it weren't for your father turning into a panda…and for the fact that that's pretty much how I've been living for the past year at Furinkan. You think Kuno spent some time with the Amazons and that's where he came up with the idea?"

"I doubt it. They woulda never let him in. The only reason Pops and me could enter was 'cause the guide was respected by the village, pops was a panda, and I was a girl."

"Still it's too bad that they have such an insane rule. I mean otherwise it would be kind of cool for there to be a society run by women."

"I suppose," Ranma said noncommittally

"Well let's get sparring!"

"Okay, but we ain't gonna spar full on. We're gonna go slow okay? One move, one counter. I'll make a move and you counter. Then it will be your turn, okay?"

"Okay!" Akane said.

"I'll go first." Ranma said. She went for a leg sweep, but Akane's stance was solid and the attack did nothing but give both Ranma and Akane bruises on their shins.

"Good." Ranma said, "Like I said, you're stance is awesome. Now you attack me."

Akane lunged in with a punch. Ranma grabbed Akane's fist and pushed her along her direction of motion, causing her to stumble and fall over. "Yeah your defense is great, but your offense is a bit screwed up. You moved away from your center and I was able to throw you off balance. You've got to move your center _with_ you."

They sparred in this matter for about an hour before they both heard a noise and looked outside to see Genma pass by the koi pond as a panda with Nabiki over one shoulder.

"What are you doing with my sister?" Akane demanded, stepping outside of the dojo into Genma's path.

The panda stopped in front of her and managed a deadpan expression. "Growf" he said simply, and walked around Akane, proceeding inside and up the stairs to Nabiki's room where he threw the unconscious girl on her bed. It wasn't until Soun came in a few minutes later that the story of what happened at the bathhouse came to the fore.

Some significant details were missing, from Soun's story. He would not tell Ranma the nature of his father's secret technique, only that Nabiki was interested in it. His narrative was punctuated by an excessively teary exclamation of joy: "My daughter is finally taking an interest in the art!"

Akane was a bit miffed at this. "Dad! I'm your daughter too, you know!"

This sobered Soun somewhat. "Yes, Akane-chan, of course, I meant my _other_ daughter. Or… I mean the second of my three daughters. I'm just so happy!"

"So, the old man still has some tricks up his sleeve, eh?" Ranma said after Akane and her father went inside. "And it's somethin' the evil sister's into. This oughta be interesting…"

~~~~~*~~~~~

The next morning, Ranma sat on the floor of the dojo in a relaxed lotus watching Genma get his spar on with Nabiki. Akane sat beside her and they shared a bag of potato chips. The spectacle was immensely entertaining.

"This is stupid." Nabiki grumbled as she got up from the floor after Genma threw her in what was, to Ranma, a fairly basic Judo move. She was wearing short shorts and a green and white striped sleeveless shirt, which inexplicably had a hood attached to it. "As I recall, Martial Arts isn't about beating people up, but about the cleansing of the mind and so on and so forth. Why do I have to do this gorilla dance?"

Genma settled into a relaxed stance. "Foolish girl. What benefit does the Art have if it isn't used? Meditation is fine in its place, but thought without action is just as bad as action without thought. You wish to learn the secret of the Umisenken? It is true that much of it focuses on mental energy, but it also requires physical action. Not even Ranma is at a level where he...she can learn the technique. If you wish to learn it, you'll have to be better than she is now."

Ranma looked to Nabiki, whose forehead was glistening with beads of sweat. She was scowling and her copper brown eyes seemed almost red. The knuckles of her fists were bone white. Ranma wanted to laugh, the middle Tendo was so far from being the ice queen she usually was, but she didn't want to end the show prematurely.

"Fine," Nabiki said evenly. "Then if I beat Ranma in a match I should be able to learn the technique?"

"I never said that. However..." Genma glanced at Ranma, who couldn't resist a wide grin. His glasses glinted as he looked down in thought, "a match might not be a bad idea. Ranma, stand up. You will be Nabiki's opponent."

"Aw jeez." Ranma got up, "She ain't nowhere near my level, Pops."

"Ranma, need I remind you that you are currently my student?"

Ranma glared at her father, but he hadn't done anything stupid yet. "No, Sensei." Ranma bowed, and she actually felt a rush of pride when she said that.

The good feeling washed away when she stood in front of Nabiki though. This was the pervert girl who took pictures of her own sister so she could sell them, who set it up so that Akane had to fight a hoard of boys every morning before school.

"The fight will be one round." Genma declared, "First knockdown wins."

"She ain't gonna be convinced after a single round, Pops, ya gotta make it three at least."

"One round." Genma repeated.

The way he said it sent chills down Ranma's spine. "Sorry...Yes, Sensei."

"Ready?" Nabiki and Ranma bow to each other and nod to Genma. "Fight!"

Ranma stood in a casual stance, waiting for Nabiki to make a move. The trouble is, Nabiki seemed to be doing the same thing.

"I'm not about to attack you, Saotome. I can wait here all day." Nabiki declared.

"You forfeit?" Ranma asks.

"No. I'm just going to have to insist on you making the first move. Go on," she says with a dark smirk, "be a man about it."

Akane stands up, "Ranma's as much a girl as you are! If you aren't going to attack, fine, but it's not fair to insult Ranma for doing the same thing!"

If Akane hadn't said anything, Ranma would not have reacted. It was so strange fighting as a girl. Everything was backwards. It was an insult to be called a man instead of the other way around.

"Akane, do not interfere with the match," Genma warns.

"I'm not interfering!"

"Psychology is important to a match as well. Nabiki has made the first move. Be silent or I will make you silent, is this clear?"

"Yes, Sensei."

Ranma smirks. _So she's tryin to psych me out? Feh, no way that'll work. I'm the best and I know it. Nabiki ain't even half as good as Akane._

But now Ranma was presented with a problem. She would have to knock down Nabiki. Nabiki was a girl. Despite all the ill feeling Ranma felt toward her, the idea of hurting a girl, _especially _one as weak in the Art as Nabiki, set off warning sirens all through her. She would have to knock her down gently, which was a definite contradiction. It would still be doable but...Ranma realized she could actually learn something from this.

Ranma flipped closer to Nabiki and landed into a spinning side kick that stopped a centimeter from Nabiki's nose.

Nabiki crossed her arms. "Really, Saotome, if you're just going to play games, we'll be here all day."

Ranma's eyes thinned. _Nabiki's good enough to know that move wasn't going to hit? But she has no skill at all!_ Ranma wouldn't be able to coerce her into making a move...She dropped into a crouch and went for a leg sweep.

Nabiki hopped over the sweep.

Ranma grimaced. One of her greatest strengths was her speed, but speed meant power and power meant damage. It was no real surprise Nabiki was able to avoid the sweep considering how slow it was. Still, it further proved that Nabiki could read moves like a book. If she ever got any skill... Ranma shook her head. It was time to end this.

Ranma tried a hold. Unfortunately, this involved getting close to Nabiki...and touching her. Ranma hesitated a bit longer than she should have, and just as Ranma got her hands in position, Nabiki had hers on Ranma's breasts.

"Gurk!" Ranma stiffened, releasing her hold on Nabiki.

Nabiki drew close to Ranma, sliding her ankle behind the redhead's feet and kissing her on the lips before pushing.

Ranma fell like a house of cards.

"Nabiki wins." Genma intoned seriously.

Recovering, Ranma shot up to her feet. "Hey! That doesn't count! She cheated..."

"Ranma, do not disappoint me further by acting dishonorably. What Nabiki did was well within the rules of the match."

"But..."

"You may as well face it, Saotome," Nabiki said, wiping her lips. "You lost."

"I never lose! I demand a rematch! That wasn't fair!" Ranma looked at Akane's face. She seemed equally shocked.

"I thought that might work. I would not have agreed to the match otherwise." Nabiki said splaying the fingers of her hand and holding out to examine her fingernails. "You're insecure about your sexuality."

"I am not!"

"The way you reacted when I touched your breasts. That was fear."

Akane stood up. "Stop it, Nabiki. I wouldn't like it either if you touched my breasts!

Nabiki smiled, turning to Akane, "I know you wouldn't, little sister. But you aren't the teacher's pet." Turning back to Ranma, she said. "You've never had a boyfriend, have you, Ranma? Or a girlfriend? You probably don't even like to touch yourself."

Ranma didn't know what to say. All she could think of was "I'm a guy! I'm a guy! It's normal!" But that wasn't true anymore. She was a girl and would be for a long while. She stepped back.

Nabiki advanced, looming over the smaller redhead. "I kissed you, and it means nothing. I've kissed many people, both boys and girls, and went no further. I know that I prefer boys and so it doesn't matter. Kissing is not a big deal." She brought a finger to her chin pensively, "Now if it was your _first_ kiss that would be a different story."

It was too much to take all at once. Nabiki stole her first kiss! Her first kiss with a girl and she hated it, which meant she didn't like girls which meant…No. It didn't matter anymore whether she was a boy or a girl, weak or strong. All thoughts of honor and propriety flew out the window. All that mattered was the hand, balled into a tight fist at Ranma's side and the glare in her eye as she snarled "You BITCH!"

Ranma punched Nabiki, her knuckle crashing against the girl's skull.

The force of the blow spun Nabiki around so rapidly she was a blur. She landed on her back on the floor.

"RANMA!" Genma bellowed.

She stood panting over Nabiki's body for a moment. She closed her eyes. "I know, Dad. I know." Slowly she knelt, gazing at Nabiki's now bloody face. "Akane, get some ice, a towel, a bandage and a needle and thread...and call for Dr. Tofu" She felt for Nabiki's pulse...it was still pretty strong. She was alive at least.

Akane's footsteps were hesitant at first, then quick as she ran out of the dojo.

Ranma felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, son. I...I should have seen this flaw in your training earlier."

Nabiki's skull was fractured at her left eye socket. It was already swelling rapidly.. A thick gash led from the crushed socket to Nabiki's temple. The speed of the acceleration ripped the skin apart on impact. Ranma took off her shirt and rolled it up to stick under Nabiki's head, but then she thought better of it. The neck might be broken. "This is my fault, not yours," she told her father. Ranma wiped off some moisture from her eyes, bloodying her own face.

Genma stared at the carnage "She didn't know how to strengthen her bones with ki. She wasn't fast enough to dodge…" he muttered.

"Stop it, okay? I knew she didn't have training. I knew that and still... Damn it, go out and get drunk or something! You're not helping!"

Genma turned, and for a moment, it looked like he would follow Ranma's advice, but instead he turned back around.. He knelt next to Ranma.

"You're still here," Ranma said.

"Yes. Let me know what you need."

"Just make sure Akane doesn't forget anything."

Genma got up.

"Dad?" Ranma said, still not looking at her father. "I missed you."

Genma's hand alighted briefly again on his daughter's shoulder. She could feel the warmth through the silk of her shirt. Then she heard the sound of his foot steps as he left to help Akane. She realized belatedly that she had been talking like a girl since Nabiki fell. Not that it mattered.

"I am not a man," she told herself. "Not after this." She could have kept them in, maintained her stoicism, but she felt she didn't deserve composure. She let the tears pass like daggers through her eyelids.

She put her hands together in prayer, clenching her eyes shut. "Mom! Dad says you're dead, so maybe you can help me. Please make sure Nabiki gets better! Let this be something she'll heal from! If she gets brain damage…if she …dies, I won't be able to live with myself. I'll commit seppuku! If my life means anything to you, please, let Nabiki be okay."

Ranma raised her hands, touching the backs of her thumbs to her forehead, hoping that her prayer would reach her mother's spirit.

Of course Ranma's mother was still alive, so she never got the message.

But there was another spirit who did hear. It was the spirit of another mother, who was already watching over the Tendo daughters, and whose shrine was hanging in the Tendo dojo.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Ranma stood up with everyone else as Tofu entered the hospital waiting room. "Is she okay?" She asked. Akane was holding Kasumi's hand. Soun had his hands in fists and looked about ready to start weeping again. Genma was the only one who didn't stand. He was holding his head up with a hand at his brow, elbow resting on a knee.

Tofu nodded in response to Ranma's question. "The CT scan showed no sign of a hematoma or any other brain injury. Aside from a sprained neck and the injury to her eye she's uninjured, and what she has should heal up in a few weeks. I thought the skull was fractured, but it must have been all the blood making it look worse than it was. You got very lucky, Ranma. I hope you learned a lesson from this."

Ranma looked down at her feet.

"Maybe we can all agree that all this violence is wrong." Kasumi said, giving her father a pointed look.

"Kasumi, how can you say that?" Akane asked releasing her sister's hands, "Nabiki got hurt because she didn't know how to defend herself. If she had trained with Dad like I had, she would have been able to take the hit or even dodged it, and it wouldn't have been a problem. Instead she had to go to the emergency room!"

Kasumi shook her head. "Our sister's in the emergency room because the Saotome girl punched her. If it weren't for violence she wouldn't even have a scratch on her."

"Kasumi, that's just wrong! Violence is out there! It happens! You can't just say 'I'm a pacifist' and think it's not going to affect you. What if someone kidnaps you? What are you going to do then? What if some pervert shows up who gets enjoyment out of beating up defenseless girls? You're just going to take it? You're going to let some pervert rape you? "

Kasumi crossed her arms."If an assailant attacks with a gun or a bomb, no amount of training is going to help you."

Akane wasn't backing down. "If someone has a gun or something you kick it out of the bastard's hands! You fight as best you can to protect the ones you love. You don't serve the creep tea and hope for the best!"

Ranma didn't like this conversation. She felt like she was the "creep."

"It seems to me," Kasumi said in a measured tone, "that people are far less likely to kill you if you are simply cordial to them."

Ranma was surprised to find herself agreeing with Kasumi. What had violence ever done but get her in trouble? Wouldn't things have gone better if she had just tried being nice to people. If she had just apologized about eating the Amazon's prize? If she had let that Rio de Janeiro guy have the bread every now and then? If she hadn't pummeled her only friend's sister in the face with her fist?

Tofu coughed an "ahem." "Nabiki's awake, and she'll be able to see all of you soon, but…she asked to see Ranma alone."

Ranma lifted her head up to check that she heard Tofu correctly. "She wants to see me? After I nearly killed her?"

Tofu shrugged and opened the door to the room for Ranma.

Ranma searched the young doctor's face for a sign of what she should do, found nothing other than his usual easy going smile and decided to go into Nabiki's room.

Nabiki was in a neck brace. She had a white bandage over her left eye and she had a plastic breather in her nose. She was sitting up in her hospital bed, her right eye looking sharply at Ranma. The strange thing was that she was smiling. "Come closer, Saotome. I think we need to have a little chat."

Ranma hesitated, but did as she was asked, ending up at the foot of Nabiki's bed, as if she stopped to Nabiki's side, she would not have been able to move her head to see her.

Oddly the arrangement gave Ranma the impression that Nabiki was sitting on a throne. "Tofu says because of you I probably won't get a scar from this." She waved at her eye. "Apparently you stitched me up. So I guess you aren't a total prick."

Ranma blinked. That was probably the nicest thing Nabiki had ever said to her.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. It wasn't your fault you were turned into a girl. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. Maybe I could have shown you a little more respect. And I guess I'm sorry about the photograph I took of you and Akane in the bathtub. And for kissing you. I didn't think it would bother you that much. I mean you're a boy trapped in a woman's body. I thought for sure you'd be a lesbian."

Ranma was starting to remember why she had been angry at Nabiki in the first place.

"I guess you really are a girl after all. Your father's probably having kittens over that."

Ranma tensed at the mention of kittens. Nabiki seemed to find this amusing.

"I think I'll stop hating you. It's not really worth the effort and I think you might be a good ally to have some day. I just wanted to let you know how things stood. Because, even taking into account all the things I did to you, I think you and I both know that you owe me, Saotome. I may have cocked the gun, but you're the one who pulled the trigger. You owe me. So just know that sometime in the future, I'm going to ask you to do something for me, and you are going to have to do it, no matter what it is. It really isn't that much considering I just got out of a CAT scan.." Nabiki stressed the word "cat", "...to see if I had brain damage. I'm very fond of my brain, Saotome. I don't like how close I came to…" Nabiki blinked and waved off her line of thought. "One favor, that's it. After that, as far as I'm concerned we're even. Do we have an understanding?"

Ranma nodded. "I shouldn't have reacted like that…I-"

"Shhhhh! Shush! I don't want to hear your excuses or apologies or whatever you're about to say. You fucked up, Saotome. Deal with it."

Ranma took a breath and let it out. "You want me to let in the others?'

"Sure. Just as long as we're clear that this does not count as the favor."

"Nabiki, I'm not going to try to weasel out of the deal like that. I'm not that kind of…" Ranma swallowed. "I'm not that kind of girl."

"I don't suppose you are." Nabiki's smile lost some of its sharpness. It was almost warm. "I fucked up too, Saotome. I should have listened to your father. Can't always trust my shining intellect to get me out of situations."

"Shhh!" Ranma smirked. "I don't wanna hear it." She opened the door and let everyone else into the room. Soun immediately burst into tears again and declared his love for his precious daughter. Akane and Kasumi were smiling at this, and Genma looked measurably less forlorn than he had in the waiting area.

"Thank you, mom," Ranma said under her breath. "Thank you."

But again, it wasn't _her _mom who heard it.

~~~~~Continued in chapter 6~~~~~


	6. Earth, Wind, and Liar

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction, by Zorknot

Chapter 6: Earth, Wind, and Liar

Disclaimer: You see beyond the mirror into the world of Notion. It exists so that your dreams and meandering thoughts may frolic behind the walls. These ideas are plentiful and vast and just beyond your sight, save for brief glimpses of inspiration. Do not despair of this, take comfort. For, if you break the mirror, the shards can cut into your soul. I know this, for I write fanfiction. I know all too well that the characters and situations of Ranma ½ do not belong to me, but to a Japanese lady named Rumiko Takahashi and a collection of production companies and publishers. If you enjoy this story, please look deep into the world of Notion and see the glimmer of hope that lies within. Buy a volume of the manga or anime even though you can probably find it all for free online. Your soul will thank you. (of course, this assumes it is possible for you to exist apart from your soul, which introduces all sorts of existential questions I'll not delve into here.)

~~~~~Ch.6: Earth,Wind, and Liar~~~~~

If Saotome Ranma, teenage martial artist, was in any way anxious, she had good reason to be. Not only was she a teenager and a martial artist, she was also a she, which even people who are _born_ female have problems with. Only two days after taking the vial that made her girlhood permanent for the next six months, Ranma was struggling to maintain her calm. She was also growing increasingly aware of how short she was. She was walking on the fence instead of beside Akane on the way back to the house in a large part because Akane had no right being an inch taller than her.

Also, walking next to Akane made Ranma continually question her sexuality, which was tiring at best. She liked Akane. Did she LIKE Akane? Did Nabiki's kiss really mean anything? Wasn't it more that she wasn't asked first? She thought Akane was attractive, but was she attracted to Akane? And what should she do if she was? And what if she wasn't, what did that mean? And what the fuck did it matter anyway? She sent Akane's sister to the hospital. She hit a defenseless girl. She did the exact opposite of protecting the weak. She didn't deserve to have Akane as a friend OR a girlfriend. She should move out on her own and sell octopus masks on the street or whatever it was honorless people did now that seppuku was out of fashion.

The thought of seppuku sent a shiver down her spine. She could never do something like that. And the thought made her feel worse, because it meant she was a coward besides everything else. And it wasn't like recent history provided her with any kind of defense, because adding to Ranma's anxiety was the nagging possibility that maybe she and her father hadn't lost their crazed Amazonian pursuer when they left China. Maybe the homicidal maniac would find her and attack. Maybe Akane would get hurt.

"What is it, Ranma?" Akane looked up at her from the street.

Ranma realized that she had come to a stop on the fence. Still, she didn't say anything for a long moment. If she had just faced Shampoo and stopped her once and for all, If she had hit Shampoo like she had hit Nabiki, maybe she wouldn't have to worry about the bitch hurting her best friend.

Ranma felt some moisture well up in her eyes. She blinked and made like it was dust, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. She didn't want to cry, she wanted to be angry, but she didn't have anyone to be angry at,and her stupid female body had different defaults set in place. She took a breath, and when she was sure her breathing was steady she said "Hey, Akane, how high can you jump?"

"I don't know, I never measured it, why?"

"You think you can jump up onto the fence?"

Akane shook her head. "I don't think so. I mean I can go at least half that high. I can do a somersault in the air and land on my feet, but I don't think I could make it up there."

Ranma squatted on the fence her elbows on her knees and her head on her interlaced fingers. She was wearing the same Chinese outfit from that morning, so there wasn't any danger of flashing anyone. "Try."

"Right now?" Akane was still in her yellow gi, her only change from that morning being the sandals she wore to protect her feet from the asphalt.

"Yeah."

Akane nodded slowly. She took a breath, bent her knees and jumped.

Ranma had to fight not to laugh. It was really more of a hop. It was more than most people could do. As Akane had said, it was more than half the height of the the three meter tall fence, but it still looked embarrassingly pitiful compared to what Ranma was used to.

"Okay. Let's try something. There was this one guy I studied from. He said we all have elemental affinities. His element was Water, because he was all about deflection and wearing an opponent down over time. He told me my element was air. You know Pops and me, we like to jump up and exchange blows at each other before we reach the ground. You on the other hand, you have awesome defenses and really crushing attacks as long as you're centered. You're all about stances, and sure movements. But when you jump, you're kind of leaving the Earth? So maybe you can't be as sure of what you're doing and you can't do as well."

Akane nodded, but she looked confused. "Fine, but how does this help me?"

"Okay, try to think of it like this. You're tied to the Earth by gravity right? It's like a bunch of rubber bands pulling you down, and your legs are like a spring holding you up. Now imagine all these pull you more and more, until, all of a sudden, they snap, and that's when the 'spring' releases, and you jump."

"Yes, sensei, I think I get it." Akane concentrated, and her legs bent. Deeper now, and it was if she were carrying something heavy. And then she was off the ground. As if in slow motion she came closer and closer to Ranma.

Then she collided with Ranma.

They both fell into the canal behind the fence. Or they almost did. Instead of hitting the water they floated some ten centimeters above it. A basin in the water formed around them. "What the…?" Ranma started before she remembered what had happened the previous morning. "Oh. Weird."

"I did it! I jumped high enough!" Akane's knee was nestled snugly in Ranma's rib.

"Yeah ya got the height down. Gotta work on aim though. Any ideas on how to get off this ride?" Ranma was trying to get up, but was finding some difficulty. Every time she tried to stand it was like he had life preservers on her feet and she fell back down.

Akane looked around her at their predicament. She pushed herself off of Ranma and for a moment, Ranma was relieved at the removal of her knee. In the next moment, though, Akane slipped into the water like a stone.

Ranma blinked, unsure of what she had just seen. She felt the water close in on her, not quite touching her skin, but close enough that it almost didn't matter. She could feel the cold from it, and if she wasn't paying attention, she would have thought it had simply hit her.

Bubbles spurted up from the place Akane had disappeared, where Ranma was now treading water. Surely Akane knew how to swim?

Oh shit, Ranma realized. She didn't.

Ranma took a breath. She dove into the water and opened her eyes. It was a bit dark, but she could see clearly as there was a thin layer of air between her eyes and the water. She was briefly distracted by the silvery sheen of her hands in the water. There was a thin layer of air around them too. Not enough to keep her from swimming down, thankfully, but enough to make the light reflect off of the surface.

Searching below her, she found Akane standing at the bottom of the canal, running as fast as she could. It wasn't very fast, though, with the water blocking her, and she couldn't see which way she was going, which was not toward the shore, but along the canal. She would have drowned if Ranma hadn't grabbed her shoulders.

As soon as Ranma touched Akane, the air around Ranma grew and encompassed Akane as well, causing the both of them to shoot up to the surface and out of the water completely. They fell onto the side of the canal in a tumble, the back of Akane's head landing neatly onto Ranma's crotch, making Ranma thankful for once that she didn't have boy parts. It was still something of an awkward position though, so Ranma quickly stood up.

Akane sat, breathing heavily. "Thanks, Ranma. I probably should have told you that I can't swim."

"You can swim," Ranma said.

"No, Ranma, I can't! I've tried, believe me, I've tried, but-"

"But the harder you try the more you don't seem to be able to do it?" Ranma continued for her friend with a smile.

"Yes! Exactly! How did you know?"

"Well, if you get your strength from the earth, then it make sense that the harder you try at something, the more you'd get pulled to the earth. And if you're in water, that would make you sink, right? So it's really the same reason you weren't jumping as high before."

"What? But there's a big difference between having an earth style, and being magically tied to the earth!"

Ranma shrugged. "Maybe it's all in your mind. Maybe it's like you don't have anything to grab onto, and so you can't center yourself. Just like when you're in the air. So you use your ki to bring you to a place you feel more secure."

Akane stood and faced Ranma, her eyes wide and her jaw slack.

Not knowing what else to do, Ranma jumped back onto the fence. "C'mon let's get you back home. Don't wanna catch cold do you?"

Akane held her hand up. "No, wait Ranma, you just… you don't know how long I've been trying to swim. How many classes I've taken. How many hours I've spent. I've had at least ten different teachers, including my dad. None of them had a clue what I was doing wrong."

"Well, don't get all excited just yet. I might not be right about it, and even if I am, you might not be able to fix it."

"Ranma, shut up. You're the best teacher I ever had. And the best friend. I've only known you two days, but I can already say that."

It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to Ranma. She didn't know what to say. All she could think of was, "Thanks, Akane." She tried to put all the feeling she could into those words.

Akane looked down. "I really hope you're not going to leave or anything. I know you feel bad about Nabiki, and Kasumi hasn't been as welcoming as she normally is, but you and your father have really helped us I think. It just has to get worse before it gets better."

Ranma sighed. "I'm not leaving. I thought about it, but it wouldn't solve anything. 'Sides Nabiki's okay, right? Just a bad black eye really." Ranma tried not to remember how Nabiki had looked as she was stitching her wound. How the skull gave way sickeningly when she pressed on it. But that couldn't have been real, because Nabiki was fine in the hospital. No skull fractures. No brain damage. Ranma shook her head. From practical point of view, Nabiki deserved everything she got. Going to the hospital every now and again was just part of being a martial artist. But the way Nabiki had looked…

It scared Ranma. Worse than cats. The idea that she didn't have perfect control. That she could hurt someone like that without meaning to. But leaving wouldn't help. If she left, Shampoo might follow her trail to the Tendos. And maybe they would refuse to give any information. And maybe Shampoo would say "Obstacles is for killing!" Like she did that restaurant owner in Hong Kong. And what if Ranma and her father hadn't come out of their hiding places then? What if they hadn't been in the restaurant at all? Would Shampoo have killed that man? Had she killed people without Ranma even knowing about it? She and Genma had been so busy running they never bothered to check.

"Akane, I told you about Shampoo, right? Purple hair, carries bon bori?"

"Yes."

"If you see her, don't fight her. Don't talk to her, don't even let her see you if you can help it. Just get me. She's better than you, and she's psychotic."

"I can handle myself," Akane waved Ranma off.

"I know you can, I'm just sayin' the odds ain't gonna be in your favor if you go against Shampoo the way you are now. You're good, but ya ain't in her league yet."

Akane nodded, "I get it, I guess. Maybe you should call the police about her, though, if she really is as bad as you say."

Ranma thought about it for a moment, but shook her head. "I don't see that ending well. Besides, she can knock down walls as easy as sneezing, so I don't think they could really keep her in a prison."

Akane tried her new jumping technique and managed to jump over the fence, without knocking Ranma over. She and Ranma then walked the rest of the way home. Once they were inside the main gate, Akane looked at her watch. "Three forty-five. I kind of feel bad for missing class."

"Akane, your sister was in the hospital. You can be absent for that."

"Yeah, but we could have showed up for the last period at least. Maybe we could have gotten Nabiki's assignments for her, and ours too while we were at it."

"One day's worth of assignments ain't gonna kill ya, Akane."

Akane giggled.

"What?"

Akane waved Ranma off. "It's just that you still talk like a boy whenever you get irritated or nervous. It's kind of cute."

"Yeah, well you got a cute smile, dontcha? So I guess we're even." Ranma felt herself blushing. She never really traded compliments with anyone before. She was so used to insults. "Let's uh, go inside or somethin'."

Ranma reached the doorway, and was about to enter, when a shadowy, lumpy mass fell from above. Startled, Ranma's hair stood on end as she jumped away, her hands making involuntary warding gestures.

"What's wrong?" Akane asked.

Ranma took a few breaths. "I, uh…I just ain't used ta folks sneakin' up on me." The lumpy mass appeared to be a small man, about half Ranma's size, and dressed like a ninja. He looked to be in his thirties, despite his size. He hadn't landed well and scrambled to a crouch in front of Akane and Ranma.

"Honestly, Sasuke, I've never known anyone to take 'eavesdropping' so literally."

The little man smiled widely and raised a hand in greeting. "Good afternoon, mistress Tendo! Master Kuno sends his love."

Akane crossed her arms angrily. "Tell him I don't want it."

Sasuke giggled. "That's a funny joke, mistress Tendo! I don't think that Master Kuno will appreciate it, though, I'm afraid. He also has asked me to give this message to mistress Saotome." He retrieved a rolled up piece of paper from his gi and held it out.

Akane nudged Ranma. "That's you."

"Oh. Uh… right." Ranma shook her head and moved forward, taking the paper from Sasuke after some hesitation.

"Thank you for allowing me to complete my mission. I will now be off!" With that, Sasuke disappeared.

Ranma blinked "So fast… Who or…what was that, Akane?"

Akane shrugged. "Sarugakure Sasuke. He's Kuno's ninja retainer. Kuno uses him to stalk me when I'm not at school. He's…mostly harmless."

"Kuno has a ninja retainer? How rich IS he?"

Akane scowled. "Just because he's rich doesn't mean he can have whatever he wants."

"Well, sure, it doesn't change the fact that he's a creep, but what is someone that rich doing in Nerima?"

"Ranma, you do realize that we own a dojo, right? We have a koi pond?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Ranma, those things aren't cheap. We live in an affluent area of Tokyo. You don't know how many times we've almost had to leave because we couldn't make our payments."

"Why don't you just move somewhere else, then?"

Akane thinned her lips. Then she took Ranma's hand and led her to the dojo. She pointed to the altar on the wall. "That altar is for my mother. She and Dad built this place before I was born. She loved this place and she loved us in it. Sometimes I can still feel her when I wake up in the morning. When I go to sleep I can almost imagine her tucking me in like she did when I was five. Some part of her spirit still lives in the walls of this house. How could we leave? How could we abandon her?"

Ranma swallowed. "I didn't realize this place meant so much to you."

"It's our home, Ranma. Of course it means a lot to us."

Ranma tried to imagine what it might be like, to have home. A place where she belonged. Did she have that when her mother was alive? Why couldn't she remember? How much would she give to have that again? What would she be willing to do? Ranma closed her eyes. "Nabiki…she feels the same way, doesn't she?"

Akane didn't say anything.

Ranma opened her eyes and looked at the altar. "It's because of her that you've been able to stay here, isn't it? I mean, I heard her say that before, but I didn't really get it."

"She went over the line, Ranma…"

"Did she?" Ranma turned to Akane. "I mean, maybe it's just guilt or something. But it just doesn't seem that bad now."

"You don't have anything to feel guilty about, Ranma. She deserved that punch."

Ranma nodded silently. Akane hadn't seen what she had seen. Akane hadn't felt the blood rushing out of the wound, or the skull… Nabiki was okay, Ranma reminded herself. Nothing but some superficial wounds.

"So, what does the note say?" Akane asked brightly, breaking Ranma from her mood.

Ranma opened the note so that both she and Akane could read it. There were a lot of complicated kanji. Some Ranma only knew because she had been in China. There was a time, and something about a hill…

"It looks like a challenge," Akane noted.

"Yeah," Ranma said, "I guess that's what it is."

~~~~~.~~~~~

Some time around six o'clock at night, Ranma returned. "Is Kasumi or any of the others back yet?" Ranma asked Akane when she found her in the living room watching television while doing some basic stretches.

"No. Kasumi called to say that she'd be staying over at the hospital until tomorrow, and as for our fathers, my guess is they're eating at whatever bar they found on the way over here. What happened with Kuno?" Akane glanced pointedly at the bouquet of roses Ranma held in her hand.

Ranma looked at them herself. "Yeah. Do you know what to do with these? I don't know whether to throw them in the trash or put them in water or what. I mean they look like pretty decent roses, but… Um… Let's just say Kuno didn't want to fight me."

Akane got up and took the bouquet like a wad of soiled diapers and walked it right to the trashcan in the kitchen, throwing it in the bin in a quick violent gesture. Then Akane walked back to her place in front of the television and sat. "Problem solved," she said.

Ranma crossed her arms under her chest. "Thanks."

"I hate roses," Akane said simply looking at the television screen.

Ranma scratched the back of her head. "Good to know. So…I guess dinner's up to us?"

Akane sat up, a smile brightening her face, as the television was completely forgotten. "Yes, Ranma. I think so!"

An uneasy feeling crept down Ranma's back like ice water.

The next recipe in Akane's mother's book was for ramen. And thankfully there were some packages of instant ramen available in the pantry. The range was still broken, and there wasn't any hot water. So Ranma resurrected the fire Genma used to heat his kettle and had Akane, under her supervision, put a pot of water on it.

Thankfully Ranma smelled the liquid in the pot before putting in the ramen. "Akane, why does this water smell like rubbing alcohol?"

Akane blinked. "I was thinking that it might make the Ramen cook faster. I'm kind of hungry."

Ranma nodded and patiently took the pot of water mixed with antiseptic into the kitchen before pouring it down the sink. "Akane?" she started.

"Yes?"

"Akane," she tried again. "I'm kinda hungry too? And my, uh 'challenge' with Kuno… kinda weirded me out? So if in the next hour or so, if I snap and start screaming at ya, don't take it too hard 'kay?"

Akane nodded.

"Okay, now, Akane? Where did you find the rubbing alcohol?"

"In the bathroom."

"Yes," Ranma smiled, showing more teeth than usual, "good. You remember. Now, I think it is fairly safe to say that there is absolutely NOTHING in the bathroom that anyone would care to eat. Would you agree?"

"I guess."

Ranma closed her eyes and scrunched up her forehead. "You…guess?"

"Well I mean, what if the bathroom sink's the only place we can get water?" Akane held up a finger, "And…and toothpaste…that has sugar in it and tastes minty, so if we ever were starving we could eat that. And mouthwash, I've seen Dad drink that sometimes…"

Ranma held up her hand. "Akane, stop, please. You're not stupid, okay? You were being creative, that's good. But let's rein it in a little. We're not yet desperate enough to eat toothpaste or any of that. So let's just go ahead and say that the bathroom is off limits for cooking. Can we agree to that?"

"Okay."

"Akane. I wanna hear you say it. Say, 'I will not cook using any ingredients from the bathroom.'"

"I will not cook using any ingredients from the bathroom." Akane dutifully repeated. "But…I thought it was okay to cook with alcohol. It burns off doesn't it? Like with wine?"

"Okay, I can see where you might've gotten confused. There's more than one kind of alcohol, Akane. There's ethyl alcohol which is in sake and mouthwash and other stuff like that. And then there's a whole bunch of other alcohols, which will kill you if you drink 'em. Rubbing alcohol will kill you if you drink it, you understand? Death comes to those who partake of that fluid. If you drink rubbing alcohol you become deceased. An inanimate object. Worm food. The thread of your existence will be cut short by the fates."

"Okay, I get it! Honestly!"

"Akane, If any of us die, that's a bad thing. That's the opposite of what we're trying to accomplish. We're clear on that, right?"

"YES! I'm sorry! It won't happen again!"

"We're using your mother's cookbook. We're following her recipe, right?"

"Right."

"So we don't need to improve on it, do we?"

"I guess not. I mean, no we don't."

Ranma picked up the notebook from the kitchen counter. "Look at the recipe. What are the ingredients it lists?"

"Water and ramen noodles," Akane read.

"That's all it says?"

"Yes."

"There's no eye of newt or pig bladder extract or anything?"

"Um…no."

"Good. Then how about we stick to that shall we? Let's trust your mother at least that much." Ranma put the notebook back on the counter and started rummaging around for another pot to use.

"That's…kind of low, Ranma."

"Yeah?" Ranma brought out a pot. "Well, like I said, I'm hungry."

When Ranma and Akane were done with the ramen, the house was still empty. Empty and quiet. They didn't say anything at first, they just filled their bowls with noodles, sat across from each other at the dinner table and started eating.

"It's strange how the hot water is broken everywhere in the house, isn't it?" Akane asked.

"Yeah. Strange."

"And the range too. Do you think that was because of when we were boiling water earlier?"

"You mean when you nearly set the house on fire?" Ranma asked sharply.

Akane gave a hurt look.

Ranma sighed. "No I don't think the water and the range being broken is your fault. Maybe you contributed a little. But I think that it's pretty much me and Pops."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think Kasumi is all that happy with us." Ranma gave Akane a sidelong glance as she helped some noodles into her mouth with her chopsticks.

"Wait, you think…You think Kasumi sabotaged her own kitchen and furo?"

Ranma shrugged, swallowing. "I've been thinkin' 'bout it since we started on the noodles the second time. She seems nice and all, but she was kinda actin' like a bitch at the hospital. And I'm wondering if maybe she's just expressin' herself differently. Like, here she's this peaceful person, and my pops and your pops are tryin' ta get her into the art again. Well Pops needs hot water to turn back into a human and your father kinda relies on her for food. So…It's kinda a way for her to fight without fighting."

Akane shook her head, "Kasumi isn't that petty."

Ranma held her hands up, "It's just a theory. I ain't sayin' it's true." She went back to her noodle bowl.

Akane was about to do the same, but then she said, "Although…"

"Yeah?"

Akane put her bowl down. "Well, okay, when I first tried to cook I kind of messed up the kitchen a little?"

"I'll bet." Ranma deadpanned.

"Right," Akane soldiered on, "so Kasumi was very kind about it as usual; she forgave me and everything, but then, that night, there were thumbtacks in my bed."

"Thumbtacks."

"Yes. I asked Nabiki about it and she didn't know anything, and Kasumi said she didn't know either. I knew Dad wouldn't do something like that, so I figured Nabiki had been lying. But, well… Kasumi is the one that makes the beds."

Ranma nodded. "This is good." She pointed in the air with her chopsticks smiling.

"What?"

"Well, you see, Kasumi really isn't a pacifist at all is she? I mean, I don't know about you, but I consider getting stuck with thumbtacks or being made to starve to be kinda violent, just a different kind of violence."

Akane shook her head and picked up her bowl to eat from it "I'm sorry, I'm still trying to get over Kasumi reading that smut she reads, I'm not quite ready to accept that she might be violent." She ate a few bites of her noodles as she looked at a random spot on the table.

Ranma watched her for awhile. Then she picked up her bowl and ate the rest of her noodles she drank the remaining liquid and stood up with the bowl. "I could still be wrong, but there's a good way to find out."

Akane paused before her next bite looking up at Ranma. "How?"

"We fix the range and the hot water. If we fix everything, and it all breaks right away, or if Kasumi escalates things we'll know, won't we?"

"But I don't know how to fix a range or the hot water or anything, do you?"

"No," Ranma looked off toward the kitchen, "… but if my guess is right, then Kasumi probably didn't really break them, she just turned them off somehow. Like maybe there's a switch or something she knows about." Ranma smiled at Akane, "So if we find that, we can turn everything back on and see how she reacts."

Akane finished her bowl of noodles and stood up herself "Well, okay, but how does this help us?"

"We need Kasumi to start training with us, right? Only she's a 'pacifist' so it would normally be hard to get her on board. But here's the thing: there's different types of martial art. I once studied at a school for trap setting. The master there could have you stuck to the floor and covered in fire ants before you even saw him move. I was never able to beat him, but I learned a few things. Anyway, I figure if Kasumi doesn't want to play by our rules, we can just play by hers."

Akane was silent for long while. "You're wrong about Kasumi," she said finally."She doesn't set traps, she's a nice person. She cares about people."

Ranma shrugged. "You're a nice person. You care about people. But you still punch people in the face every now and then right? I ain't sayin' she's evil or nothin', just that she ain't quite the piece of soggy bread she seems." Ranma got up and took her bowl into the kitchen.

Akane followed her. After Akane set her bowl in the sink, she paused for a moment, crouched down and opened the cabinet underneath. "Sometimes, I see Kasumi adjust something here…"

There was silence for a moment, then Akane backed out of the cabinet and gave Ranma a look. Ranma reached to the faucet and turned the hot water on. Within five minutes steam was coming out of the sink. "I'm sorry Akane. I didn't mean to…" She wasn't sure how to finish.

Akane held her hand up. "No, Ranma. You didn't do anything. I've been fooling myself about Kasumi for years. You were just being honest. You've always been honest with me, even though I've made it difficult for you sometimes. I should be the one to apologize."

"What do you mean?"

Akane looked surprised. "No! I mean I…I don't have…!" She closed her eyes and let out a breath."I…I really needed a friend, Ranma. A real friend." Akane turned away from Ranma as she continued. "You've met Sayuri and Yuka, you know how they are. And everyone's pressuring me to date boys but every one of them acts like a creep to me, thinking I'll love them if they beat me up." She lifted a clenched fist. "That's sick isn't it? Isn't that perverted? And everything I read just makes me more sure that boys have something wrong with them."

"Yeah, uh..that sucks…" Ranma hesitantly patted Akane on the back, not sure where she was going with this.

Akane whirled back around, looking Ranma in the eye."I knew you were really…a boy as soon as I heard the story about Jusenkyo. I just…" Akane averted her gaze. "…you had already gotten stuck and I needed you to be a girl so I just, I just pretended I didn't understand. I've always done things like that. It's how I dealt with Mom dying, with us nearly losing the house, I don't even realize I'm doing it sometimes, but this time…I didn't think about how it would affect you."

Ranma felt a flash of anger. Part of her wanted to scream at Akane, but the other part, the lonely part, completely understood. "It's…okay. I kinda get it." She spoke in a monotone.

"But it's not okay! I lied to you, Ranma! All this time I've been trying to get you to act more like a girl and I knew you were really…"

Ranma held up a hand."Look, I ain't gonna lie, I'm a bit pissed about that, but, well, what it comes down to is I did this to myself, so I might as well make the best of it, and really it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would. I just gotta keep remindin' myself, 'It's okay, I'm a girl.'"

"But if you're a boy inside…"

Ranma gritted her teeth. "No I'm not, dammit! When I have this body I'm a girl. It don't matter how I might think about things or what I was before. That's just the way it is. If I go around sayin' I'm really a guy, well then I'm just a girl who thinks she's a guy, and that's stupid! Why the fuck did you have to say anything? I was almost able to forget and then you had be all observant all of a sudden!"

"You wanted to forget you were once a boy?" Akane looked confused.

"Gods damn it! No! I don't know. I wanted to forget this fucking problem, alright? This not knowing whether I'm screwed up or not. Or rather how screwed up I am. I still feel like a guy most of the time, ya know? I try to tell myself I'm a girl, but it just feels wrong."

"But, well…why didn't you kiss Nabiki back?"

"I don't know! Okay? You're a girl right? Would you let a guy kiss you like that?"

"No way!" Akane yelled. "I mean. I'm not…but…hmmm."

"Yeah. No offense but I don't know if I'd call you the expert on sexual orientation here."

"I'm not a lesbian, Ranma!"

"I ain't sayin' you are. Gods! But this whole, 'all boys are perverts' thing. Ya gotta know that it ain't always true, right? I mean how are you ever gonna get a husband if ya keep thinkin' any boy you meet is gonna molest you or somethin?"

"But it's true! I've read it in books. Medical books! The average teenage boy masturbates twelve times a month! And that's the average! So half of them do it more often. Twelve times a month they practice raping girls. That's almost every other day! How is that not perverted?"

"I never practiced raping a girl!" Ranma made a mental note to find out what "masturbating" really meant. She hoped Akane was exaggerating.

"That's because you were turned into a girl just in time! If you were a normal boy you would have became a pervert just like the rest of them! I'd be just some hole you could stick your…thing into and you'd never think I was really worth anything! You barely think I'm worth anything as it is!"

"I _thought _you were my _friend!" _Ranma turned and ran away to the guest room, closing the door behind her.

She sat down on the floor, tears breaking through her eyelids like icepicks. "Fucking girl body." The words came out as a whimper. Ranma made a fist and slammed it against the floor. Hard enough for her knuckles to bleed. The pain made her feel a little better. Physical pain she could deal with. It was this other stuff, this feeling like her heart was getting batted around by a team of cats playing around in her stomach, that she couldn't fathom.

"I ran away. Again." Ranma rubbed her temples as a wave of guilt washed over her. It was typical of her though, wasn't it? Her air-like style? Never staying in one place, always using little guerrilla maneuvers and running away. Always adapting, but never really changing.

She should go back. She should talk to Akane. Apologize maybe, even though she hadn't really done anything wrong. Had she done something wrong? It was Akane that had fucking lied to her! Ranma shook her head. No. She had to get her strategy straight. This was just like any other battle. She just had to figure out how best to attack the problem and then she'd go after it.

~~~~~.~~~~~

Three hours later, Genma had come into the room, smelling of sake. With a perfunctory grunt at Ranma that would have done his panda form proud, he collapsed onto his futon and fell asleep.

Ranma got up and turned the light off. Light from the street filled the room with false moonlight giving the room a mysterious air. Ranma slowly took off her shirt and pants and climbed into her own futon. She still hadn't talked with Akane since she went off in a huff. She had spent all this time thinking, and still hadn't figured anything out.

Akane knew. All day, she had known that Ranma used to be a guy and yet she had insisted that she talk like a girl. Every jab at her masculinity was real, not just some assurance to a fellow tomboy. Ranma was out half the day in a dress and Akane knew all that time that she used to be a boy.

Used to be?

Ranma gritted her teeth. Yes, used to be. Because just as she had repeated to Akane earlier it was simply true that she was a girl and would be for a while. She could be a man inside all she wanted, and she could raise any number of protestations but that wouldn't change the physical reality of her situation.

Genma snored beside her in a slow rhythm. It wasn't a terribly loud snore, and Ranma usually found it comforting. Tonight though, she felt like she had betrayed her father. All this time she had been telling herself that she had done what she had done because she was lonely, because she wanted friendship. That was true, but still, in her head there was this wrinkle. Akane had lied to her. For more than a day Akane made her think she didn't know she had been a boy, and as much as Ranma wanted to let that go, it still bothered her. It seemed a little evil, Akane using her like she had. She said she was sorry and it all seemed okay, but if Ranma was going to forgive Akane something like that, why should she be all bent out of shape about Nabiki taking a few photos?

And it wasn't like Akane was an easy friend to have. Sometimes she seemed like a spoiled little princess, and she tried Ranma's patience any number of times. Yet here she was, stuck as a girl because she wanted to be Akane's friend. Stuck as a girl when her father wanted her to be a man. The one constant in her life had always been her father and taking the vial was tantamount to a betrayal, and she felt it with every snore.

She wasn't really angry with Akane for lying. That was part of the problem. She was okay with it. And it was disturbing just how okay with it she was. There was some reasoning that supported letting it go. After all she had gone this far to be Akane's friend why throw all that away? And wasn't Ranma using Akane to get over her own problems? So what was she angry about? Her telling the truth? What the fuck sort of sense did that make?

Akane seemed to have so many more problems. Her entire family had some kind of issue or another it seemed, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to be a martial artist or a housewife of some kind, and she had this temper that flared up occasionally. That was just the start of it.

Ranma shook her head. It wasn't true. Ranma had just as many problems if not more. Prominent among them not being the sex she was used to. But then there was Shampoo, the hair that would grow out wildly if she turned into a guy again and did not have the dragon whisker tying it off, and her father. But Akane's problems just seemed to be more in the foreground and it made Ranma forget about her problems. It was kind of nice worrying about someone else's issues for a change.

Maybe that was it. Maybe it was simply that being friends with Akane was worth it, even if she had lied. But then maybe it had something to do with the many times on the road when Ranma looked at the vial and fantasized about drinking it and telling her father, "I'm a girl now, so you can't tell me what to do!" and going back to China on her own.

There were things she liked about being a girl. It was fun with Akane. And every time she did something "girly" she knew it was something that her father wouldn't approve of. She felt free, and the freedom was exhilarating.

Tonight though, lying next to her father, it seemed less like the good kind of freedom and more like the kind of freedom you get when you're dangling from a precipice and the man above you cuts you from the line.

She felt herself drifting further from her father, and it was a little frightening. All the more so when he was lying next to her. Ranma sighed and got out of her futon. She opened her window and climbed up the roof, the cool night air cutting through her tank top and boxers. She crawled down to Akane's window and tapped on it. Akane turned on her light after a moment and opened the window, bleary-eyed. "Ranma?"

"Yeah. I can't sleep. Pops is snorin' somethin' fierce. Could I camp out on your floor?"

Akane nodded, "Come on in. You know you could have just used the door." Akane turned away as Ranma entered and shuffled to her dresser where, after rummaging through some clothes, she found something and turned back to Ranma. "Here, wear this. You're peeking out all over the place." She handed Ranma a simple nightgown.

Ranma took the garment with a grimace. Her tank top wasn't really doing a good job of hiding her assets. Without letting herself think about it too much she pulled off her tank top and pulled on the night gown.

"Much better. You want to talk about…earlier?"

"Not really. Just, sorry for runnin' out like that."

"Girls are like that, Ranma. It's okay. I shouldn't have said the things I said. Maybe not all boys are perverts. Maybe, if it's you, I can be friends with a boy."

Ranma swallowed. "You know I'll be a boy again in six months, right?"

Akane nodded and then yawned. "I'm too tired to talk right now, and I don't know if I have any extra sheets. There should be space enough for both of us in the bed though if that's okay."

"You're okay with that?"

"We're both girls, right?" Akane climbed into bed, leaving space for Ranma

"Right." Ranma said. She walked to the other side of the bed.

"And you're not a lesbian?"

"No," Ranma said and lay down on the bed. It was amazingly comfortable. Ranma was already fading as soon as her head hit the pillow. She took in a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not sure what I am," she muttered to herself.

But Akane heard her and she said. "You're my best friend." Her left hand found Ranma's right and they clasped together tightly, like two halves of a locket.

~~~~~.~~~~~

Ranma lowers herself into the steaming furo slowly, luxuriating in the heat as it passes over her body.

"Have you told anybody about the hot water working?" Akane smiles at the other end of the furo.

Ranma shakes her head no. "I figure we'll let them find out when we come out of the furo."

Akane nods. "So what was with the dream you had this morning? You were mumbling something about Kuno?"

Ranma looks at herself in the hot water of the furo and remembers the dream. Kuno showing up naked in the furo. Ranma saying she was a guy, only of course she wasn't. Falling through the furo onto the school campus, the water from the furo turning into rain. Ranma now wearing a frilly dress. Kuno pointing his sword at her. Ranma taking a stance. Then kuno throwing something at her, and it turning out to be a bouquet of roses. Then a string of Kunos encircling her and saying "I love you, I would date with you," over and over.

Ranma swallows. "I'm not sure I want to say."

"Was it a nightmare?" Akane asks.

"I think so," Ranma says. "I guess."

Akane moves closer to Ranma, putting her hand on her shoulder. "What happened with Kuno yesterday? Was it just the flowers, or was there something else?"

Ranma looks at Akane. "Well I thought he had come for a challenge, only he didn't have his bokuto with him. So I said 'You're pretty confident, aren't you?', and he said 'Confident enough you give you this.' That was when he threw the flowers to me. I caught them before I knew what they were, you know, and when I I saw they were flowers I…I…"

"Did you kick his ass? That's what I would have done," Akane smiles, brandishing a fist.

"No," Ranma frowns. "I just sorta…crumpled to the ground. I was so surprised."

"Huh?"

"And then Kuno turned back as he was walking away, and he told me he loved me."

"And THEN you kicked his ass right?"

Ranma frowns. "No. I just…got up and went back to the house. Then we were cooking and I sort of forgot about it."

"Ranma, you can't encourage Kuno like that! He probably thinks you're okay with it now!"

"Yeah," Ranma says slowly. "I shoulda just kicked his ass."

"You aren't okay with it, are you?" Akane backs away.

"No!" Ranma shakes her head. "It's just… No one ever gave me flowers before. No one ever told me they loved me like that." _Except for you, Akane_, Ranma amends in her thoughts, but of course that doesn't really count. That was just a joke. Why did she even think of that?

Akane rolls her eyes "Believe me; that gets old REAL quick."

They don't have much time before they have to get out of the furo and get ready for school. They pass the rest of the time in silence. Ranma is left to her thoughts. If she were still able to turn into a man, she would. But she isn't. She isn't a man. So why should she get upset when a boy gives her flowers and tells her she loves her? Of course people are going to love her. After all she had a sexy body didn't she? Why should she be shocked when they told her as much? And if she plays her cards right, she might be able to learn a few new moves from Kuno. That trick with making the air cut things is pretty neat… And so far as she knows Kuno hasn't lied to her yet.

Akane has her eyes closed with a washcloth on her head, oblivious to Ranma's cogitations.

If Ranma can be friends with her, she wonders, why couldn't she be friends with Kuno? He makes a lot of boasts of course, and he is a pompous ass, and she isn't the least bit attracted to him, but as long as he keeps telling her how great she is maybe…

Ranma shakes her head and lifts herself out of the furo. She figures the heat must be getting to her. She couldn't seriously be thinking of going out with Kuno…could she?

~~~~~End of Chapter 6~~~~~

5/10/10-

Fixed an inconsistency with the duration of the vial's effectiveness. Thanks, Dumbledork!


	7. Three Little Girls from School

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 7: Three Little Girls from School

~~~~~.~~~~~

Ranma shifted in her seat, pressing herself closer to the door of the cab. She didn't like how she could feel Nabiki's warmth through her dress. It reminded her of Nabiki…and that she was wearing a dress. "Ya don't hafta go ta school ya know. The taxi'll take ya back home if ya want."

"Unlike you, Saotome, I care about my education."

Ranma made the mistake of turning to respond to Nabiki. She winced when she saw the eyepatch and turned back to look out the window. "Yeah, well ya can do schoolwork at home, can't ya?"

"I have business interests I need to look after. But I appreciate your concern." Nabiki's tone was even. Ranma couldn't quite tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Do you have to wear the eyepatch though? Honestly, you look like a pirate!" Akane was on the other side of Nabiki, her back straight and her hands on her lap. Ranma found herself unconsciously imitating her. Then she stopped herself, wondering why she was trying to imitate the way a girl was sitting. Ranma took a breath, reminded herself that she was a girl now and for the next six months, and continued to adjust her posture. She liked how Akane looked sure of herself and poised, even though she wasn't really. That and Ranma's usual relaxed sitting posture didn't work well in a dress while sitting in the back seat of a cab with two other people.

Nabiki made a frustrated noise. "You two are ridiculous, you know that? Two days ago you're ready to kill me, and now you're giving me fashion advice? I was a bitch to you and I'm still a bitch. Nothing's changed. I've got people I have to talk to, and If I have to either look like a pirate or a battered housewife I'm going to choose pirate. What are you smiling about, Saotome?"

Ranma didn't realize she was smiling, she straightened her mouth as best she could. "It's nothing."

"No, I want to know. Why were you smiling?"

Ranma thinned her lips. "I just had this picture in my mind is all... of what you would look like in a pirate hat."

"Ooh, and a parrot!" Akane laughed, "She needs a parrot on her shoulder!"

Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Oh, hardy har har."

Ranma shook her head, smiling again, "No it's more like 'ARRR, matey!'"

"Shiver me timbers!" Akane added in a pirate voice.

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and laugh. It's all going on your tabs."

Ranma blinked. Was Nabiki…blushing? And at the corners of her mouth…was that a smile?

"Oh! We're here!" Akane exclaimed as the taxi came to a stop. Ranma opened her door and got out, while Nabiki climbed out after Akane.

Nabiki walked to the driver's window. "Did Dr. Tofu give you a tip?"

"Yeah, Miss, he took care of all that. He gave me enough to take you home too if you want."

Nabiki held up her hand. "I'm fine. You did your job, thanks."

"No problem. Take care of yourself." The cabbie waited for Nabiki to back away and then drove off.

Akane must have noticed something in her sister's expression, because she asked "What's wrong?"

Nabiki shook her head. "Dr. Tofu…I don't like owing somebody that much."

Akane frowned, "I'm sure it's okay, Nabiki, Dr. Tofu's a friend."

"Maybe so, but friends are like credit cards. You use them too much and you max them out. Then you're in trouble."

"Speaking of trouble," Ranma pointed, "looks like your welcoming committee's here, Akane." A swarm of high school boys in varied sports gear coalesced at the entrance.

"Oh, great." Akane turned toward the school and made a stance.

Nabiki sighed. "Try to be quick, little sister. I don't want to be late today."

A guy in a goalie outfit knelt at the gate declaring "I'm an impenetrable wall of love!" Akane sent him flying with a spinning side kick.

"Furinkan High has a hockey team?"

Nabiki shrugged. "If you ask me, he just wanted the padding."

Ranma nodded. She could understand that. She wondered, though, why Nabiki was being so talkative.

"Ranma, I love you!"

Ranma froze. The boy who said the words was dressed in a baseball uniform and was raising a bat over his shoulder to strike Ranma in the head. She recovered fast enough to dodge the blow and knee the boy in the gut, staggering him backward. "If you love me, you got a strange way of showing it!"

"I'll prove to you I'm worthy of your love!" the boy said and came at Ranma again. Ranma dodged, grabbed the bat and threw the kid to the ground. Not enough to really hurt him, just enough to knock the wind out of him.

Meanwhile Akane had broken someone's arm and hit another guy in the jaw hard enough for him to lose teeth.

Ranma shook her head. "This isn't right…" She looked around as the baseball player gasped for air. The trees were clear, the field was filled with marauding club members, but nobody in a hakama, but the roof. "There!" Ranma spotted Kuno looking over the scene one foot on the raised edge of the roof, his hand resting on the hilt of his bokuto.

Ranma ran to a tree close to the face of the building. She jumped up the branches and onto the roof, landing in a three point crouch.

"Ah my beautiful Saotome Ranma! Like a flaming arrow you rise above the masses and find your target true. Thine light doth set my heart ablaze!" Kuno opened his arms wide and moved toward Ranma a step

Ranma held her hands up and backed away."Yeah. I'm happy for you. Look, did you mean what you said yesterday? Or were you just screwin' with me?"

"My pigtailed sprite, I would never utter words that weren't from my soul. I told you that I love you, and that is true."

Ranma straightened and lowered her hands. "Then call off this horde of idiots and stop bothering Akane."

"But Tendo Akane is my light, my star! I could not abandon her any more than I could abandon the breath of life within me!"

"Arrgh!" Ranma half growled, half screamed in frustration. "Akane's my best friend, okay? You love her, then you need to treat her right. Stop this business with the attacks every morning."

Kuno frowned, "But look at her! See how she moves through those miscreants like a knife through wind! She is an artist and they are her canvass!"

Ranma watched as Akane swung one of her attackers around her several times and let go, making the body collide with someone dressed as a mariachi singer. Kuno did kind of have a point…Ranma shook her head. "She doesn't like it! Look how angry she is! You're just torturing her for your own amusement!"

"That is not anger, my petite beauty, but the color of passion that tints her cheeks! How could I deny her that?"

"Have you ever asked her whether she likes fighting those guys every day?"

Kuno gave Ranma a blank look.

"You didn't, did you? I know you and those guys have some deal worked out with Nabiki, but you're making Akane miserable, and I'm not going to stand for it. So if you have any feelings for me at all, you're going to stop messing with her. If you want to see her fight so badly, challenge her like a proper martial artist. Ambushing her before school is not right. It's dishonorable is what it is. Cowardly even. So knock it off!"

Kuno raised his hand slowly and touched Ranma's cheek. She felt blood rush to her skin. Kuno advanced.

Ranma backed away fists raised. "What do you think you're doin'?"

"My angel, you spoke with such clarity I wanted to reward you with a kiss."

"NO! No kissin'!" Then Ranma closed her eyes and reconsidered. She was a girl. There wasn't anything wrong with it. She had to get over her aversion to kissing or else something like what happened with Nabiki might happen again. "Not without my permission."

"Then, Saotome Ranma. May I have your permission?"

Damn. Ranma hoped she could be as smooth when she was a man again. The thought confused her. She frowned. "Do you promise to lay off Akane, and stop this business with people attacking her?"

"Yes, though it pains me to do so. A butterfly in the wild is more beautiful for its freedom. I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space... I did not realize Akane felt that Furinkan was a prison."

"Huh?" Ranma had no idea what Kuno was talking about.

"I promise to cease the torment that I am apparently causing Tendo Akane. So, fair maiden, will you allow me a kiss?"

Ranma swallowed. She hadn't thought this far ahead. She was still halfway thinking she was going to fight Kuno. But if she let him kiss her, then Akane wouldn't have to deal with the hentai horde every morning. And maybe she could find out whether Nabiki was right about her not being a lesbian. "O-okay," she said.

Everything was suddenly quiet, save for the breeze in the trees, the calling of far away birds, and the screams of agony from Akane's victims below. Kuno advanced like a limpet in a flower vase, lips pursed, eyes wide. Ranma decided it might go better if she closed her eyes. Time passed, more people screamed, she felt a puff of hot air hit her face. It smelled strongly of teriyaki sauce. Then she felt Kuno's lips on her lips for a brief moment and then it was done.

Ranma blinked. Was that it? She hadn't found the kiss impressive at all. If anything it was kind of disgusting. She had to fight the urge not to wipe off her lips.

Kuno knelt before her. "Truly thou art a goddess among mortals! I will sing your praises throughout the lands! All hail Saotome Ranma, goddess of men's hearts!" Kuno lifted his hands up toward Ranma in supplication.

Ranma chuckled nervously. "Ah, thanks, but maybe you could just sing my praises to yourself?" Ranma kind of liked being called a goddess but it might get a bit awkward when she was a man again.

Kuno stood up, and grabbed Ranma's hand. "Wherefore this modesty,my lady? Everyone should know of my love for you, from the lowest street urchin to the greatest emperor!"

Okay, this was going to be a problem. Ranma hoped it was worth it. She removed her hand. "Remember your promise, Kuno."

"Of course, my fierce flower! Of course. I will have it settled by this afternoon." Kuno bowed deeply, produced a rose from his hakama, and handed it to Ranma before turning and walking toward the roof entrance to the school.

Ranma looked at the rose for a moment. Again, she didn't know what to do with it. Shrugging, she stuck into her hair, pushing the stem through the braid. Her fingers found the vial, still hidden there. She would be a man again. This didn't change anything. She would let Kuno know she didn't love him, he'd eventually get tired of her and then there wouldn't be a problem, right?

Ranma winced. She didn't like how she was reminded of when she decided to fight Shampoo back in China. Maybe she'd get rid of the rose later. But she couldn't risk Kuno finding it on the ground or in the trash and thinking that it wasn't appreciated. Once the hentai horde was called off she would get rid of it. Having reached this decision, Ranma jumped off the roof and landed softly on the ground just as Akane finished with the last of her attackers. She was panting heavily from the exertion, her body poised in one of her awesome stances.

Ranma found herself wondering what it would be like to kiss Akane. She blinked, and tried to shake her head free of the thought. It could never happen. She was a girl now, and when she was a guy again, well, she would be a guy and Akane wouldn't let a guy near her. Besides she was her best friend, it would be a violation of trust or something.

Nabiki was approaching from outside the gate carrying Akane's and Ranma's school bags as well as her own. She reached Ranma before she got to Akane and handed her her bag.

"Thanks, uh…Nabiki." Ranma never expected to say those words. Even though it wasn't a great favor Nabiki was doing or anything, it still seemed weird.

"So you and Kuno are an item now, eh?" She was smiling predatorily "I saw him kiss you on the roof."

Ranma felt heat rise to cheeks. "Sorta, yeah. I don't think it'll last long."

"Oh? So you're just using him? Stringing him along? Ah! A girl after my own heart!" Nabiki clutched her breast melodramatically.

"It ain't like that!" Ranma protested.

"Hmm? So you have feelings for him, then?"

"No! I just…Damnit! Yeah I guess I am stringing him along. Just for a little while until he fixes things with Akane."

"What about me?" Akane asked, joining them.

Nabiki handed her bag to her. "I don't know that little tidbit. All I know is that Ranma here just kissed Kuno. On the mouth. I saw them on the roof."

"NANI?"

"I didn't kiss him, he kissed me! And I only let him so he would agree to stop bugging you so much."

"Ranma, that was my problem. I was handling it. "

"Oh, was Kuno right then? He was sayin' you enjoyed fightin' the perverts every mornin'."

"He said that? That jerk!" Akane put her fists on her hips. "For your information, Ranma, I don't like it, but I like it even less when people butt in on my problems without my permission. And why is there a fucking rose in your hair?"

"Yeah, well maybe you don't like roses, but I'm fine with 'em! If someone wants to tell me they love me and say I'm a goddess and how wonderful I am, who am I to tell them different? "

"Okay, now it begins to make sense! Ranma's a narcissist!" Nabiki pointed her finger at Ranma while covering her mouth.

"I am not!" Ranma protested. "What's a narcissist?"

"Ranma,…" Akane adjusted her school bag and looked at the clock anxiously. " …a narcissist is someone who is in love with themselves and thinks they're better than everyone else."

"Oh. Well, then, yeah, I'm a narcissist."

Ranma blinked at Akane's shocked expression. "What? Of course I love myself. If I hated myself I'd never bother to get out of bed in the morning. And as for the other thing, do you know anybody better than me? No. You don't. I'm the best! I mean some people it would take me longer to beat than others, but I'd beat anybody eventually. That's just a fact."

"Sister of mine, I think our friend here is confusing her facts and her opinions."

Akane nodded slowly. "Come on, "she said with a sigh, "Let's get inside. We're almost late, and to think, we got here so early!"

Ranma let Akane and Nabiki walk a few steps ahead of her before she caught up. Did she hear correctly? Did Nabiki say "_our_ friend?" It was said off-handedly, and Nabiki was rather fond of sarcasm. Maybe it didn't mean anything. Besides, why would Nabiki want to be Ranma's friend? She punched her in the eye! Nabiki had said she wanted Ranma as an alli in the hospital, but that was different from being friends. It would kind of make sense if Nabiki were a martial artist, but…

Was that it? Had Nabiki crossed some invisible line while she was in the hospital? Walking beside her, Nabiki caught Ranma staring at her and her copper brown eye locked with Ranma's.

And there it was. That little glint , that almost imperceptible edge that said that inside Nabiki somewhere she was thinking _Someday, somehow I'm going to beat you for real, at your own game, and you'll have to acknowledge that you aren't the best anymore, motherfucker. _

Ranma couldn't help but smile. _Go on, Nabiki. I'd like to see you try._

~~~~~.~~~~~

Kuno made his announcement at lunch. Ranma and Akane were just realizing that what with picking up Nabiki from the hospital before school and Kasumi being passive aggressive with them, they didn't any bentos for lunch, when the intercom squawked alive. "Students of Furinkan High! It is I, the rising star of Kendo known to all as the 'Blue Thunder' Kuno Tatewaki, age seventeen who speaks with you now."

Ranma could practically hear the eyes of everyone in the room rolling. As you might imagine, It was not a pleasant sound for lunchtime.

"As you are no doubt aware, for the past several months, I have been exerting my passions upon the fierce Tendo Akane…"

"Ew." Several people said. Akane's face quickly turned beet red.

"….and I have decreed that none may date her save those that are capable of defeating her in combat. Many enterprising souls have taken this to mean that they can accost her before school like common thugs, and win her affections in that manner. This behavior is most base and I will not tolerate any further."

"Why not?" One boy in the room yelled ineffectually at the intercom, "It's what you do every day!" A few other boys murmured assent at this. And one girl, who got strange looks for the rest of the afternoon.

Kuno continued, "From now on, those seeking the affections of Tendo Akane must first issue her a formal challenge, arbited by her father…or…"Kuno's voice took on a grumbling tone. "her sister, Tendo Nabiki."

Akane got up from her desk abruptly, making a loud scooting sound with her chair. Her face was flushed and her hands were in fists at her sides. She stood for a moment as Kuno started talking and then rushed out of the classroom.

Ranma got up to follow her, but was a bit distracted by what Kuno was saying.

"I have been put on this path, by our beneficent and pulchritudinous new student Saotome Ranma. She is a goddess among men and I hereby proclaim my love to her for all to hear. She shall join Tendo Akane in the Furinkan pantheon of beauty. Welcome her into our school my colleagues and underclassmen. May she be a light in dark places. Good bye."

Ranma only had a dim idea of what "pulchritudinous" or "beneficent" meant, but she still beamed at the praise. After fifteen years of a nod and a grunt being the best she could hope for in a compliment, it was so nice for someone to actually tell her she was great, instead of having to constantly repeat it to herself. Remembering Akane, she shook herself free of the moment and exited the classroom after her.

Ranma found Akane in the hall and caught up with her. "What are you planning?"

"I don't know! They have no right. YOU have no right to just fix all my problems for me like I'm some kind of invalid!"

"I don't think you're an invalid, Akane. I just thought I could help is all."

"I don't need your help! I don't need anybody's help!

"Well, I guess we could try to get Kuno to take it back."

"I don't want him to take it back!"

"Then why are you upset?"

"I just…How could you let Kuno kiss you? You're a boy!"

Ranma frowned. "No, I'm not. You've seen me in the furo, Akane."

"You know what I mean!"

Ranma set her jaw and made sure to speak clearly, using feminine pronouns. "Akane, I am sorry for trying to fix your problem without your permission. I know you are upset." She squelched a wave of anger that passed through her, closing her eyes and clenching her fists briefly. "I know you are upset, "she repeated. "But I cannot do this if you are calling me a boy half the time and trying to get me to be more like a girl the other half. I wanted to know what it was like to kissed by a boy. I wanted to know if I could handle it without losing control like I did with Nabiki."

"Well, you didn't punch him, so I guess you liked it." Akane's tone was acid.

"What is your problem, Akane?" Ranma voice lifted briefly into a scream of frustration. Something that wouldn't have happened if she was in her male body.

Tears were welling up in Akane's eyes. "I thought you'd be different! I thought because you were a boy… But no. You're just like all the other girls aren't you? You're boy crazy just like everybody else!"

"Akane, I am NOT boy-crazy! I'm not girl-crazy either. You're the only one here who is acting crazy!"

Akane reared her hand back.. "Ranma, you idiot!" she screamed, and slapped Ranma hard across the cheek. Before stalking off.

"Hey, whaddya do that for?" Ranma rubbed the sore spot on her cheek.

The dark haired girl just kept stomping away.

Ranma ran to stand in her path. She tried to hold Akane's shoulder, but the other girl shrugged her off and walked past her. With a growl of frustration, Ranma wrapped her arms around Akane so she wouldn't be able to get past her again. It was something she would have never done as a boy, especially not to a girl. She could do it because despite how Akane acted, Ranma still thought of her as a friend. And she could see that her friend was hurting.

Akane stiffened. She struggled briefly, but then she relaxed as she broke down into sobs. "I know I'm crazy. I know I am! Everybody else is out getting boyfriends and girlfriends. Everybody else is okay with it! They're the perverts, not me! Why do they keep pressuring me? Why do I have to have sex when I don't want to! I don't want to ever!"

Ranma could do nothing but hold Akane. Ranma was the strong one. The sensei. Even if she actually felt the same way. She sighed. "I guess we're kinda in the same boat. Look Akane, we're fifteen. We gotta figure this out soon. We can't just hide from it. Way I figure it, the only way we can know for sure is to try different people out. See who we like and who we don't like. Otherwise we're just going to end up alone and unhappy."

"I know who I like," Akane said abruptly. She backed away from Ranma and locked gazes with her. "I like Doctor Tofu!"

Ranma frowned. "Yeah I remember you saying something about that, but I thought he was into Kasumi?"

"Screw Kasumi!" Akane snapped. She shook her head closing her eyes. "If she wants Tofu, she's going to have to fight me for him!"

Ranma rubbed the back of her head. "Akane, I don't know if that's such a good idea…"

"You've got to help me, Ranma. Help me steal Tofu away from my sister!"

Just then the bell for the next class period rang. "I guess we'll talk about later, huh?" Ranma said nervously, thankful that she didn't have to agree to help right away.

"Sure. After class." Akane agreed.

All the next period, Ranma couldn't figure out what was more complicated. Algebra, or her friendship with Akane.

~~~~~.~~~~~

When Nabiki met Ranma and Akane after class, she handed them both a sheet of paper, an armband, and a pen.

"What's this?" Ranma asked taking them both. The armband was made of a satiny material, dark blue on the edges and lighter blue in middle.

"Read the contract. Then decide if you want to sign it or not," Nabiki advised. Ranma noticed that Nabiki was wearing one of the armbands. She raised an eyebrow but looked at the paper.

"I hereby declare myself to be member of the Furinkan Protection Agency hereafter refered to as FuMa)…?" Akane was reading the first line of the contract.

Nabiki was smiling. "Fu for Furinkan, Ma for protection," Nabiki explained. The Japanese word for "to protect" was mamoru, so it did make sense. And "fuma" meant permanence or immortality, which Ranma had to admit made it seem impressive. "Go on. Read the rest"

Ranma silently did as Nabiki asked.

_I understand this to mean that I will protect the weaker members of the Furinkan high school from bullying and other forms of harassment, that I will aid to other FuMa members should they require it, and that I will aid the school in any athletic competitions that I am fit to compete in. In return for these services and the 500 yen monthly fee paid to **Tendo Nabiki**, I will receive special protection from unwanted solicitations._

_Any parties wishing to date, fight, or otherwise engage me will be required to issue a formal challenge. The challenge may not be in any way sexual or otherwise directly harm my reputation, and if there is any question on this point, the issue will be settled by either my parental guardian or **Tendo Nabiki**._

_Only one person will be allowed to challenge per day and the same person will only be allowed to challenge once in a two-week period._

_In the event of a loss or forfeiture, I will be obligated to honor the terms of the challenge or I will relinquish my status as a FuMa member._

_If the challenging party does not honor these requirements, he or she will be fined a minimum of 10,000 yen, (payable to **Tendo Nabiki**) and punished by FuMa in a manner deemed appropriate to the offense_

_Special exemptions may be given by individual FuMa members to certain parties so long as these exemptions are clearly listed in a public document._

_Finally, if at any time, a two-thirds majority of FuMa members decide that I have not performed my duties adequately, I will be dismissed from the organization._

_If **Tendo Nabiki** is indefinitely unavailable, an elected FuMa member may perform her duties in her place._

_I understand these terms and agree to them without reservation_

At the end, there was line for a signature.

"Seems like a pretty good deal for you, Nabiki," Ranma noted, "Not a whole lot in it for us, though."

"Listen, Saotome, if I can't conduct my business the way I used to, I have to have _some_ sort of leverage. I need muscle. This fixes Akane's problem and mine. Plus anyone can join and get the same benefits.

Akane made an exaggerated show of searching through the text of the contract and looking on the other side. "Where does it say that we'll act as muscle for you, Nabiki? Because I need to black that section out before I sign anything."

Nabiki sighed and quoted "'That I will provide the other FuMa members with aid should they require it.' I already signed the contract, so I'm a FuMa member. If you sign the contract you will be too. I will be obligated to help you if you need it, and you will be obligated to help me. I had to work with Kuno-chan on this. You heard what he said. I've just made it so that you wouldn't be the only one affected by the arrangement and made sure that there was a way to enforce it if Kuno wasn't on board."

Ranma signed the contract.

"Ranma!" Akane protested

"What?" Ranma shrugged." She's got a point." Nabiki wanted her as an alli. That was why she was doing this. She was asking for what she wanted up front with no subterfuge. Sure Nabiki was looking out for herself, but at least she wasn't asking her to help her seduce somebody or anything.

"Well, I'm not signing it." Akane crossed her arms stubbornly

At least Nabiki wasn't pretending to be her friend and then putting all these demands on her. Teach me to cook! Teach me martial arts! Teach me to swim! Be more of a girl! Act like a boy! At least Nabiki knew what she wanted.

"Tell me, Akane, what exactly do you want? I'm trying to help you here."

Ranma eyes snapped to Nabiki when she said almost the same thing she was thinking.

"You're not helping me! You just want to use me! Just like when you sold those pictures of me in the bathtub! Just like when you placed bets on my fights in the morning!"

But the money from the pictures had gone into paying bills. And at least some of the money from the fights had gone into the weight set Nabiki had gotten for Akane. Sure there were better ways to make money, but what Nabiki did helped Akane as much as it helped her.

And what was Akane giving back for using Ranma the way she'd been doing the last three days? Moral support? Was that really worth it? "Arrghh! Stop bein' such a spoiled brat and sign the damn contract already!"

Ranma regretted saying the words as soon as she said them, wincing as she readied herself for Akane to blow up.

But Akane just blinked, and without saying anything, signed her contract and handed it to Nabiki.

"Thanks, sis," Nabiki said sweetly. She was maybe gloating a little bit, but Ranma didn't begrudge her that. She was beginning to understand Nabiki a little better.

They walked away from Furinkan high in silence, having put the armbands in their book bags for now until they could find pins for them later. About a block away from Tofu's clinic, Ranma and Akane separated from Nabiki to go to Yui's Yakitori.

"I think it's a bad idea," Ranma said after Tofu's sign slipped out of view behind a building. "I'll help you, but I'm telling you I don't think you should do it."

"Do what?"

"You said you wanted me to help you steal Tofu away from Kasumi."

"Oh. Well if you don't want to, you don't have to. I was just saying…Look, am I really a spoiled brat?" Akane stopped walking and faced Ranma directly.

Ranma also stopped and scratched the back of her head nervously. "I think, sometimes, yeah. I mean, there's all this stuff you don't know how to do, and to me it's all pretty basic. And then there's the way you sometimes just sorta assume you're gonna get your way if you just get angry enough about it."

Akane nodded and looked down. "I don't mean to be that way, Ranma. I guess I've just always been the baby of the family and I've never had to do anything for myself. I think it's why I like school and martial arts so much. They're the only things I've really done myself."

"I guess it's kind of like your Art. You have this excellent foundation, and a great defence, but you're just not good at leaving your comfort zone."

"And you don't have a comfort zone," Akane said with an odd tone in her voice.

"Wha?"

Akane shook her head. "Sorry. I don't mean to judge. It's just…you know I can tell you're always walking on eggshells around me. You're always worried you're going to say the wrong thing. And I guess I do have a temper problem, so that might be it. But I notice you're like that with your father. With Nabiki. Honestly, you're either fighting them or trying to get them to like you. Sometimes I think you only fight at all _because _you want people to like you!"

Ranma blinked. "Where'd you come up with all this?"

"All day I've been trying to figure out why you let Kuno kiss you. Nabiki said you were a narcissist, but that didn't seem right. I know you care about other people. You've done so much for me when you didn't have to do anything. And you were so worried about Nabiki even when she deserved what she got. Kuno's a narcissist. He wants to go on dates with the prettiest girls in school because he thinks he deserves to. He would never kiss somebody he didn't find attractive. That's not like you at all. You're not a narcissist. You just _wish_ you were a narcissist. You _want_ to think you are better than everyone else, but you don't really believe it. You _want_ to love yourself, but you're too aware of your…imperfections."

"Ha!" Ranma laughed, sticking her chest out. "I don't have any imperfections!"

Akane looked down at Ranma with a sad look on her face, making Ranma wish once again that she were taller. "Ranma, it's okay if you aren't perfect. It's okay if you aren't the best." Then her face warmed into that cute smile of hers and she said, "I'll still think you're pretty cool, okay?"

Ranma nodded. Yes, she decided. It was worth it. This feeling right now. This was worth all the hassle Akane caused her. And more.

"Next time you feel like helping me though, make sure you ask first." Akane turned pertly and walked away.

Shit.

Ranma took a breath. She had apologized for it already, but she hadn't really understood. She had acted just like Nabiki. That was what Nabiki had done wrong. She hadn't asked Akane's permission. The weight set, the photos, she hadn't thought to ask Akane if it was okay. It was just a little thing really. Just a question. But it turned a nice gesture into…

Into yet another instance of someone trying to control Akane's life. Sheesh, no wonder she was upset! _I'm such an asshole!_ Ranma thought to herself.

Ranma started walking again and caught up with Akane. They were a block away from Yui's when Ranma said, "I kinda forgot how smart you were."

Akane smiled slightly. "I do get all A's in school, Ranma. I could tutor you sometime if you want."

Ranma chuckled, "That'd be cool. I'm not getting math at _all_."

"Oh it's not that hard…once you know how to do it," Akane said brightly.

"Wow, that's helpful," Ranma deadpanned.

Akane lightly punched Ranma in the shoulder, and by the time they entered Yui's they were best friends again.

~~~~~.~~~~~

Work passed without much incident. Akane only needed Ranma's help once and that was with a table of twelve soccer players celebrating their latest victory. They were snickering while Akane was trying to take their orders, and Ranma suspected they were changing their orders on purpose just to mess with her.

After work, Ranma and Akane were exhausted and went right to the furo to get ready for bed. Ranma decided to wear pajamas despite it being a little too warm for them. She didn't want Akane to nag her about being indecent, but she didn't like how the night gown bunched up around her waist either.

"You want to sleep in my room again tonight?" Akane asked when they were both dressed in their night clothes.

"Nah, your father and Nabiki are still up. They might get the wrong idea."

"That's right, they know about you being a boy too, don't they?"

Ranma nodded.

"I wonder if Kasumi knows?"

Ranma grimaced. "Probably. Dammit, why did I even bother taking that vial if everyone is going to know I was a guy anyway?"

"The vial…that's what locked your curse right?"

"That's right I never told you how I did that. Yeah. I was sittin' in the furo there in my male form and I heard you about to enter. I had been thinking about it for a while, but when I heard you I panicked and drank the vial on impulse."

"I'm sorry, Ranma! I didn't realize…"

"Don't worry 'bout it." Ranma said.

"But if it wasn't for me, you'd still be a boy!"

"It wasn't your fault, Akane. You didn't force me to drink it or anything."

"Oh, so it was more like you wanted to drink it and I just gave you an excuse?"

"I guess…sorta." Ranma didn't want to say the real reason. That she had wanted Akane to be her friend. That just seemed pathetic.

"Wow, so I guess you were one of those 'women trapped in a man's body'!"

"It ain't like that!." Ranma blushed. "It's just really annoying to have to worry about water splashing you all the time! And you have to keep it straight what sex you are when you talk to people, and after six months, if the vial works right I'll be able to be a man again and water won't find me as easily."

"But what will you do about school? You're registered as a girl now, right? And you won't be able to work at Yui's as a guy."

"I'll just… deal with that stuff when the time comes. Like I said, I took the vial on impulse. It wasn't a well thought out decision or anything."

"But if you had your choice, you'd still want to be a boy right now, huh?"

"No!" Ranma exclaimed. She grimaced, realizing what she just said, and that it was true. "No. Not just this moment."

"Why not?"

"Because…Because if I were a boy I wouldn't be able to be here…talking like this… with you."

Akane stared at her for a long moment, her face growing red. Finally she looked away and said with a chuckle, "Yeah, I'd probably smack you with something, and call you a pervert!"

It's strange how some jokes are funny because they are true, while others aren't for exactly the same reason. Ranma couldn't bring herself to laugh with Akane. She just scratched the back of her head and said, "So I guess we better get to bed. We gotta get up early tomorrow to train."

Akane nodded, and they both exited the furo and climbed up the steps to Akane's room. "Good night, Ranma," she said when she reached her door.

"Goodnight, Akane," Ranma said, and with that, Ranma yawned and staggered into the guestroom. Genma was already sleeping in his panda form when Ranma entered. Ranma didn't have to turn the light on, to get into her futon, but did so anyway, because it wasn't fair that Genma got to sleep earlier.

"Growf," the panda grumbled at being disturbed.

"No complaining, Pop. You're the one who told me I had to get a job."

Genma raised a sign that said, "I went to work today too." He flipped the sign and the other side read, "Dr. Tofu is a slave driver!"

Ranma smiled at the signs. She hadn't seen Genma write them so... "Aw, pops, you must have been waiting all night to tell me that. I'm touched."

Genma growled and raised another sign. "Stop talking like a girl."

Ranma did some growling of her own. She had used "atashi" again just then and she even sounded more like a girl when she had said it. Only three days and she was already getting used to being a girl. What would happen after six months? And Genma had had that sign ready for her along with the other one, so he must have suspected she would slip up again.

"Stop buggin' me 'bout it pop," she said finally in her more masculine speech. "I gotta act like a girl almost all the time now. If I don't, people look at me funny."

Genma flipped his sign over, his panda face looking very serious. "Since when do you care what others think?"

Genma had to have been thinking about this conversation all day! Ranma swallowed. Why _did_ she care whether she talked like a girl or not? She wasn't a girly girl or anything. She ought to be able to talk like a guy if she wanted to. But…Akane…"I got friends now, Pop. I care what my friends think. I can't help it!"

Genma raised one more sign. "Don't forget who you are, son." Then he put it down and lay down, his back to Ranma.

Ranma frowned at this. First because it made her wonder whether that was something that could happen, and then because for some reason she didn't feel like a son. She didn't feel like a boy.

She would have ran downstairs for hot water right then if it would have done any good. But it wouldn't. She was stuck. She was a girl. What was wrong with her? When had it happened?

Ranma took a breath and tried to calm down. What had really changed? Was she now Genma's daughter? No, that didn't feel right either. She had no history of being his daughter. No memories of that. It was just that she was a girl, and she had become more comfortable with that. Being a girl was now part of her identity. So she couldn't be a son. At least not until she was male again.

But she would be, she told herself. Right now she still felt a little ashamed of herself for losing control with Nabiki, for acting the same as Nabiki and not asking Akane's permission before meddling in her affairs. A man among men wouldn't do those things. But she wasn't a man now. She was a girl. She could learn how to be a better man without it affecting her honor. And when she became male again, she would truly be a man.

Nodding resolutely at this, Ranma threw back the sheets of her futon. Reminded of how tired she was, she yawned widely and was just about to turn the light off and dive into the comfort of the futon, when her eye caught the glint of a tiny yellow metallic object. Squinting against her exhaustion, she kneeled next to the futon for a better look.

It was a thumbtack.

Ranma blinked. If she hadn't talked with Akane about it, she might have thought it was one of her father's bizarre training exercises, or, like Akane had once before, she might have thought it had been Nabiki, but she knew that wasn't the case. In fact, she had expected something like this, but it was still rather surprising. This was how Kasumi expressed her anger.

Ranma picked up the thumbtack and put it next to the wall. She inspected the rest of the futon and found ten other thumbtacks. She put those in the same place. Then she felt the futon lightly with her hands in case there was anything she had missed. Finally, she turned off the light and cautiously eased herself into the futon, resting her head slowly on her pillow. How would she retaliate? She wondered as she drifted off to sleep. She had to get Kasumi to escalate things, but she didn't want to do anything too dangerous. What could she do?

As Ranma's eyes closed for the night, she had a curious image in her mind of a pile of smoldering red coals.

~~~~~.~~~~~

Genma was sparring with Akane outside, near the koi pond, while Ranma and Nabiki watched. Nabiki was still breathing heavily from the morning exercises. Which hadn't even winded Ranma or even Akane. But Nabiki hadn't complained at all. She had a look of determination in her eye, (she was still wearing her patch) that was down right scary. Even as heavily as she was breathing, Nabiki was observing the fight between Genma and Akane intently. She was motivated to learn. She was a martial artist.

Ranma was having a difficult time remembering to distrust her. But, she didn't allow herself too much time analyzing Nabiki's motives, or watching her father's fight with Akane. She was listening carefully to what was going on in the kitchen.

Kasumi was done with breakfast, Ranma was sure of that. The smells of the meal were just beginning to reach Ranma's nostrils, and she hadn't heard the sounds of pans or plates in almost three minutes. Soun was in the family room, reading the paper and enjoying a cup of tea, and Kasumi wasn't talking with him at all. So what was Kasumi doing?

Ranma had a suspicion. Kasumi was waiting. Waiting and watching Genma's spar with Akane. Waiting for just the right time.

Genma started taunting Akane, getting her angry, because that was one of her weaknesses. She was, unfortunately, taking the bait and getting sloppy because of it. She and Genma were right beside the pond now. Akane wound up for a powerful, if unwieldy haymaker that Genma would have to dodge or risk getting pummeled. Ranma sat up straighter in anticipation.

Sure enough, just at the moment when Genma should have dodged, Kasumi called out "Breakfast is ready!"

Akane's wild punch connected, and Genma flew into the koi pond with a spectacular splash.

Ranma couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't have timed it better herself!

"What is it, Saotome? It wasn't that funny," Nabiki asked.

Ranma shook her head as she composed herself. "You have an awesome family, Nabiki. Absolutely awesome."

~~~~~~continued in chapter 8~~~~~


	8. Retaliation

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

DISCLAIMER: You are reading a fanfiction. If you enjoy this story, please buy at least a volume of the Ranma ½ manga by Rumiko Takahashi, or a dvd from the anime produced by Kitty, Shogakukan and Viz. Otherwise you're peeing in the punch bowl.

For those of you following along at home, this chapter takes place between episodes five and six of the anime.

5:00:00

5:00:01

5:00:02…

~~~~~Chapter 8: Retaliation~~~~~

At breakfast, Ranma made sure she sat next to Kasumi. She watched the elder Tendo daughter as she distributed chopsticks and napkins to everybody. When Ranma got her napkin, she surreptitiously slipped it into the pocket of her trousers. She was wearing one of her old Chinese outfits. She would, of course, have to change into her school uniform before she left, but although she knew she could fight in the uniform in a pinch, she didn't want sweat stains all over it if she could help it. Also, the Chinese outfit had an added benefit: pockets.

As Kasumi set the food down, and everyone was complimenting her including Ranma, Ranma was carefully poking the thumbtacks she had in her pocket through the napkin.

Genma snatched a piece of fish from Ranma's plate as soon as it touched the table, but Ranma did not retaliate. Genma gave her a questioning growf, which Ranma answered with a look of pert superiority. She had seen one of Akane's friends pull it off. It was really girly, but that was exactly the sort of thing that would get her father off her case. It worked. Genma kept to his own food and didn't press the issue any further.

Finally Kasumi set the last dish, her own, down and she was preparing to sit. This was the most crucial moment. Ranma pushed the last thumbtack through the napkin just as Kasumi smoothed her skirt and was lowering herself down to the floor. Kasumi was going to sit on her knees. Ranma winced. This was going to be rough to watch.

When Kasumi's knees were two or three centimeters from the floor, and there was no way for her to stop her descent, Ranma quickly slung the thumbtack-studded napkin right into the place where Kasumi's left knee landed.

Ranma couldn't help but watch as the metal of five of the thumbtacks sunk into Kasumi's flesh through the material of her skirt.

"Ow!" Kasumi cried and stood up.

Ranma blinked. If the same thing had happened to her, a simple "ow" would not have cut it.

"What is it, daughter?" Soun asked.

Kasumi had a dark look on her face, which would have been more surprising if Ranma hadn't seen her at the hospital, and if she hadn't been more or less expecting a crack in the older girl's façade. Kasumi's eyes flicked down to Ranma and held Ranma's gaze for a moment.

Ranma realized suddenly, that she might have overplayed her hand. Soun was still rather protective of his daughters, and of Kasumi in particular. Akane might have reason to doubt Kasumi, but even she probably wouldn't agree that Kasumi deserved to have thumbtacks shoved into her knee.

Kasumi's face warmed again, though, a pleasant smile filling her face. "Oh, poo! I must have left these here last night, and here I've gone and hurt myself."

"Wait, are those thumbtacks stuck in your leg?" Nabiki asked.

All anyone could see were the round, brass heads flush against the napkin and Kasumi's knee. Also, now there was some red in the napkin, from the blood. There must have been some tearing when Kasumi got up, Ranma surmised. Oh poo, indeed.

Kasumi nodded. The strain of not showing the pain was barely evident in her voice when she said, "I dropped a box of them in here and I was picking them up, but I was distracted, and well, I suppose this is the result."

Kasumi was lying so smoothly and easily _Ranma _almost believed her! She had to make a conscious effort not to smile at all this. Her smile would be completely misinterpreted, she was sure, but she couldn't help feeling joy at finding another worthy opponent. Kasumi could have told on Ranma, and it would have gone very badly for the pigtailed martial artist. At the same time, if Ranma had simply tried to tell on Kasumi, instead of directly retaliating, Kasumi could have used the same story to get out of it. She had accidently dropped some thumbtacks, oh my. By not accusing Ranma, Kasumi was telling her that she was going to win no matter what. There was something else she was planning. In other words, whether Kasumi realized it fully or not, she had accepted Ranma's challenge.

"Here, Kasumi," Ranma said, "let me help you with that." She made to pull the thumbtacks off.

"Don't pull them out!" Akane winced.

"Why not?"

"She'll…hemorrhage? "

"Akane, they're thumbtacks," Nabiki pointed out. "Besides, technically she's already hemorrhaging."

Kasumi put a cool hand on Ranma's and said, "Thank you, Ranma-chan, but you don't need to trouble yourself. "

"Hate to say this, big sister, but maybe you should let Akane and Ranma help you to the kitchen so you can pull those out? Bleeding and breakfast don't really mix well for me anyway." Nabiki got up and glanced at Kasumi's knee. "I'll go get the first aid."

Akane got up too, and Ranma helped her make a chair with her arm for Kasumi to sit on as they carried her into the kitchen. Kasumi gave no protest. Probably because she had determined it wasn't a good idea to move her leg too much until the thumbtacks were out. When they reached the kitchen Nabiki was there with a kit.

Once Kasumi was ready, Nabiki quickly pulled off the thumbtacks. Five had punctured the skin, but only three were in really deep. Ranma felt a little bad about it, but when she thought of what might have happened to her if she hadn't seen the thumbtacks before she dove into her futon, she felt a little better.

"Why did you put the thumbtacks in the napkin?" Nabiki asked.

Kasumi waved her off. "Oh, it's easier to keep track of them that way."

Nabiki nodded as she applied alcohol with a cotton swab, dabbed each wound with antibiotic and covered them all with a small band-aid.

"You're pretty good at that," Ranma observed.

Akane nodded. "Nabiki volunteers at the school nurse's office."

"Really?" Ranma wouldn't have thought that would be something that Nabiki would do, except that the quick, no nonsense, way she treated Kasumi's wound made it seem more natural for her.

"You'd be surprised how much information comes through a nurse's office." Nabiki looked up at her older sister. "You okay, sis?"

Kasumi nodded, and they all returned to the breakfast table.

Nabiki's explanation made sense, but Ranma suspected there was more to it. Why was she so concerned about information? Why worry so much about the balls of thread that she was constantly trying to untangle? She was intelligent, she could have found other ways to make money, so why did she sell the photos and start the morning betting pools in the first place? Being a nurse's assistant might indeed be a good way to get information, but again there were other ways to do that. Ranma shook her head. She was probably over thinking it. Nabiki liked manipulating people. In a way, that's a lot of what nurses do, getting people to do things they'd rather not. It made a sort of sense, but Ranma still felt there was something more there.

And Kasumi was definitely more than she appeared. Even Akane had layers that Ranma wouldn't have suspected. Just because Akane was a little easier to get to know didn't make her any less complicated. Thinking about it made Ranma feel invigorated, like she was learning a new martial art style. And in a way, maybe she was. She just hoped it all didn't go away when she was a man again.

When Ranma got back to the table, Genma was almost done with his meal. Smirking, she stole some rice from his plate as a matter of principle.

"So, big sister," Nabiki said idly after they were all seated again. "What were you doing with all those thumbtacks anyway?"

"Oh I was using them to put some fliers up outside. We're going to start accepting students again, right?"

Ranma had to smile at this. She probably _had been _putting up fliers. Like all good lies, Kasumi's tale had an element of truth. Ranma decided to check on this just in case. "Hey, do you have any extra? We could distribute them to people at school."

"Certainly, Ranma-chan, I was about to suggest that myself. There's a stack of them next to the telephone in the hall. Temari-san was very helpful with them."

"Who is this Temari-san?" Soun asked. "Is he somebody we know?"

"Daddy!" Kasumi gasped. "Temari-san is just the nice older man who works at the print shop. He's very professional."

"Is he as nice to his male clients?" Soun took a sip of his tea, his eyes half-lidded.

"Now, Daddy." Kasumi put her hands on her hips. "I'm old enough to know how to handle myself around men. You don't need to worry about me." There was just the barest change of inflection, but Ranma was paying more attention to Kasumi now, and she caught it. The implication was that there were other people at the table, who _didn't_ know how to handle themselves around men that Soun _should_ worry about.

Who? Nabiki could handle herself just fine, and Akane just punched out anyone who bothered her…_is it me?_, Ranma wondered, _But that doesn't make sense either. I'm not one of Soun's daughters, and I'm a gu-_ Ranma caught herself before she finished the thought. She wasn't a guy. She was a girl. Kasumi had probably heard about her kiss with Kuno, and when Kasumi heard about it, it probably made her think Ranma was a girl with loose morals or who was too naïve for her own good. Ranma's eyes thinned at the elder Tendo daughter. _Is she calling me a slut?_

Kasumi's eyes widened a little at Ranma's change of expression, and then her ever present smile got just a little wider. It was so subtle, it was almost too subtle. Ranma ate the last of her breakfast as she thought about it. Could she be imagining it all? Maybe Kasumi was exactly what she seemed, and she was just finding what she was searching for.

No, Ranma decided, she was forgetting about the hot water. Why would Kasumi turn it off and then say it was broken?

Soun crossed his arms after putting his chopsticks down. "Well, you know I wouldn't mind it if you started dating. I just want to know who it is. Same goes for all of you girls."

Ranma grimaced. It felt weird to be included in the statement in that way. Part of her wanted to yell that she wasn't a girl and that Soun wasn't her father, but one of those declarations wouldn't be true and the other would be pathetically overdramatic. Besides, it was kind of nice having someone else care for her, even if it was in a creepily possessive paternal kind of way. She looked at her father to see how he would react. He didn't say anything, largely because he was still a panda, but Ranma got the impression that he wouldn't have done much about it anyway.

"Thanks for the food, big sister Kasumi," Akane chirped as she picked up her empty plate to take it into the kitchen.

Ranma picked her plate as well. "Yeah, thanks."

"You're welcome, little sister. I was wondering, do you think you could run an errand for me?"

"Sure, I guess."

Kasumi picked her own plate up and Ranma followed her and Akane into the kitchen. "I was thinking we could have beef for dinner tonight, but I have a lot of housework to do, and it would really help me out if you could pick some up on your way home from school."

"I don't know…"

Ranma exchanged a glance with Akane. "It's our night off, Akane and I are still going through your mother's book."

"Oh I know." Kasumi took Ranma and Akane's plates and stacked them in the sink. "But the next entry is rice, isn't it? And Akane's been doing so much better since you started teaching her. I thought I could cook the meat and potatoes while you help Akane with the rice."

"That would be great!" Akane exclaimed cheerfully.

Ranma flinched a little. A cheerful Akane was rarely a good sign. Especially when cooking was involved. Still with Kasumi to help supervise, the lesson should go a little better… as long as it wasn't all part of Kasumi's evil plan.

Ranma had to wonder. Bloodthirsty amazons, ancient Chinese curses, extreme training in the art of deadly combat, and yet dealing with the twin threats of Kasumi's retribution and Akane's cooking was perhaps the scariest situation she had ever faced. All she would have to do is make a bet with Nabiki and it would be perfect madness!

Ranma smiled, the trepidation melting away into a warm, energetic feeling. _I love this family!_ Ranma thought.

"Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" Akane asked.

Ranma shook her head. "I'm just really glad I'm here. This is the most fun I've had since…since I was with Ukyo."

"Fun? Kasumi just asked me if I could get her meat. How is that fun?"

Ranma blinked. "I…uh…it was the way she asked. Very entertaining."

"Why thank you, Ranma-chan!" Kasumi gave a slight bow. "I'm very entertained by the way you speak as well. What is that dialect?"

Ranma scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, uh, Pops raised me like a boy and when I was young I used to hang around Osaka with this boy Ukyo. I picked up a little of the accent then I think. But mostly I talk like I'm from here I think."

"How delightful!" Kasumi clapped her hands. "If it were one of my stories, he'd show up here and sweep you off your feet."

"What? No, it wasn't like that!" Ranma protested.

"Of course not, dear. You were children. But still, old bonds have a tendency to form again even stronger than before after they are broken." Kasumi's eyes looked off into the distance. "Of course if it were one of my stories there'd be some reason you could never be together. And the two of you would pine for each other in the moonlight, looking across the expanse of a great desert or mountain range or perilous sea, and then he would complete an epic quest and find you and then he would hold you in his arms as he slowly untied the laces of your corset, his scent salty yet sweet, and finally, free from the burden of your clothes you would caress his…oh my!" Kasumi's eyes went wide as her cheeks reddened. She whirled to the clock on the wall. "Look at the time! If you two don't hurry you'll miss school!"

Ranma closed her mouth and she watched Akane do the same. Then they both ran away.

They went to the furo, where Nabiki was already washing with cold water. They joined her silently. "What's going on?" Nabiki asked.

_Ranma lowers herself into the hot furo water, feeling the shock of the heat against her skin. She sits for several moments in silence, until Nabiki gets in the water as well. "Seriously, what's wrong?"_

_When Akane gets into the furo, Ranma finally says, "You know, I think your dad's right. Kasumi really needs to start dating."_

_Akane just widens her eyes and nods her head._

_Nabiki smirks, "Kasumi tell you about one of her stories, did she?"_

"_Yeah," Ranma responds. Then she does a double take. "Hey, you're naked!"_

_Nabiki rolls her eyes. "Thanks for noticing, Saotome."_

~~~~~.~~~~~

School went well for Ranma, a fact that she was incredibly surprised by. Sure, she slept through most of it, but usually even the parts she was awake for were an excruciating bore. This time was different, though. During lunch Akane helped her with some math problems, and it was actually kind of fun. She would find ways of putting the math in terms of martial arts. The variable, usually x, was the opponent, but he always had a bunch of other numbers with him on his side of the equal sign and in order to defeat x, you had to get him by himself. Then you added all the numbers and when you were done, x's number would be up. He had a bunch of other tricks too, like fractions and squares and such, but once you tore through his defenses and got him alone, you had him.

And then in gym she played softball for the first time. Apparently it was a girl's game, because the boys weren't participating. Ranma liked how the red bloomers of the gym uniform showed off her legs. She also liked how Akane looked in it. Also, it wasn't a skirt. It was very close to wearing boxers and a t-shirt. Or at least that's what she told herself when her old sensibilities started tickling the back of her brain. She hoped she could show off her muscles when she was a guy again. The guys had all kept their shirts on, but maybe she could start a trend.

"You're in a good mood," Akane noted as they walked away from school with Nabiki.

"Yeah, I am. I had a good day today. Usually by now something goes wrong."

Nabiki stretched her arms up and yawned, "Well, you do have a challenge with Kuno-baby today, don't forget."

"Yeah, that's probably going to be the low point," Ranma agreed. "Thanks for taking care of that though. I mean, I know you got an angle planned on this, but it's still better than having him trying to fight me or woo me all day."

Akane was a little more hesitant. "Things were…quiet today. It was nice. I'm still not sure about this whole thing, though. Who'd you say was challenging me?"

Nabiki stuck a finger in her chin as she remembered. "Chiba Sentaro. Kid's from the chemistry club. I think he's hoping to catch you with an explosive or something."

"Great. I guess he's counting on having time to prepare."

"You still have time to change the venue." Nabiki pointed out.

"No, it's okay," Akane smiled, "I'll just pound him before he can do anything."

"You get any challengers, Nabiki?" Ranma asked.

"Not yet," she said, "I don't know if I made it clear enough that it was possible."

"You sound disappointed," Akane teased.

"No, I don't really care, I just want to be sure the rules are clear." They walked down the rest of the block in silence. They passed a no parking sign on the corner when Nabiki spoke again. "Alright, I'm a little disappointed."

"Ha!" Akane pointed at her, "I knew it. You like training!"

"I forgot how fun it could be," Nabiki allowed, "and it would be good to know where I stand."

Ranma wasn't sure if Nabiki should be gung ho just yet. "It's probably a good thing you didn't get a challenge. You just started training again, after all."

Nabiki thinned her unpatched eye at Ranma. Then she took a breath and looked away. "I know that. The smart thing would have been to stay out of FuMa except as an administrative power."

"I don't know about that," Ranma said, "I think it's good. It'll keep you motivated to train."

They walked another block in silence. Then Nabiki said, "Listen, Saotome. You know that favor I said I was going to ask of you? You know, for this?" Nabiki pointed to her patch as she stopped walking.

"Yeah?" Ranma stopped as well, and Akane did the same.

"Here it is:" Nabiki stepped closer to Ranma, taking advantage of her height. "I want you to lose to Kuno."

"What?"

Nabiki moved her bookbag so she was holding it behind her with both hands. "You heard me. Lose. On purpose. Then go on a date with him when he asks."

"Why?"

Nabiki shrugged and looked up at the sky for a moment. "Call it a lesson in humility. Anyway, that's my request. Do it or don't do it. It's up to you." She started walking again and Ranma watched her for a bit before following behind her with Akane.

They were about a block away from Tofu's clinic when Nabiki turned around, her face now wearing her usual amused smile. "You know what? I think I'll go another way home. I'll let you two take care of your errands on your own. Toodles!" Nabiki waved goodbye and turned right instead of going forward.

Ranma stood, watching Nabiki leave for a moment, then she exchanged a glance with Akane. "What was that about?"

Akane shrugged. "You going to do what she asked?"

Ranma thought about it. "I did promise her I would. I guess I have to…I just…"

"What?"

"Why does Nabiki want me to date Kuno? Wasn't she into him or something?"

Akane sniffed. "Into his money you mean. My guess is she had him pay her to convince you to forfeit."

Ranma hadn't thought of that angle. It fit her old idea of Nabiki as a pervert girl, but it didn't seem to quite jive with what she knew about Nabiki now. "She wouldn't do that, would she? I mean, that's almost prostitution. And your father told her to stop doing that sort of stuff."

"I don't know. She's seemed better recently, but I wouldn't put it past her."

Ranma shook her head. "She made a big deal about this favor in the hospital. I thought it would be something bigger than this, but there's no way she would use it up just to whore me out to Kuno."

"It's pretty big, Ranma. I wouldn't want to date Kuno, and I was _born_ a girl."

Ranma really wished Akane would go back to pretending not to know about her curse. It made her question her actions every time she was reminded of it. "I already let him ugh…kiss me. How much worse could it get? The only part I don't like about it is having to lose."

"Honestly, I don't like how blasé you're being about this. Aren't you leaving yourself vulnerable?"

"Jeez Akane, If he tries something I'll just beat him up!"

Akane bit her lip. She turned her head away. "What if Kuno is better than you?"

"No one is better than me! I'm Saotome Ranma! And I'm-"

"A girl." Akane whirled around. She pointed a finger at Ranma's chest. "You are a girl. And Kuno is a boy. That means he can rape you. Do you understand? He can slip you something when you're not looking and rape you. And it doesn't matter how good a martial artist you are. It can happen."

Ranma blinked. "Akane, I think you're being a little paranoid. Kuno wouldn't…"

"You've known Kuno what, two days? What do you really know about him? You think he's too stupid to rape you? Too insane? Too full of himself? Ranma, girls get raped all the time by those kinds of people."

Ranma swallowed. Akane had a point. She wanted to say it didn't apply to her. But it did. For the next six months, it did. "Damn it! I'll be careful, okay?"

Akane nodded. "That's all I want, Ranma." She started walking again. She murmured something that Ranma couldn't quite make out.

"What was that?"

Akane smiled nervously and waved her off. "I was just thinking out loud. Don't worry about it." Akane quickly returned her attention to the sidewalk as she held her school bag with both hands in front of her.

"Okay…" Ranma wasn't sure if she should let it go or not. She was getting the impression that there was something Akane wasn't telling her. But at the same time, she wasn't sure she was ready to hear it herself. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe Akane just heard a few cautionary tales too many or something. Yes, that was probably it, Ranma decided. It was time to change the subject. "That was some excellent aiming at softball today." She started walking down the street again.

Akane reddened as she walked beside Ranma. "I didn't aim. It was a foul ball."

"Heh, well it broke both of those perverts' noses. After what they said about you, I call that aiming whether you meant it to be or not."

Akane smiled. "Hiroshi and Daisuke. The pervert duo of Furinkan high."

"What, they're the 'pervert duo' just because they're boys?"

"No," Akane said simply, "It's because they call themselves the pervert duo of Furinkan high."

"Oh." Ranma looked around her at the houses on the street. This was the way back to the house and the way to Tofu's, but she didn't know of any markets on this route. "So I guess we're going to Tofu's first?"

"Yeah, I thought it would be best. Otherwise the meat might spoil or something."

Ranma nodded. "That's good thinking."

"You don't have to sound so shocked, you know." Akane gave a wry look.

Ranma held up her hands. "Just giving a compliment."

"You looked cute in your gym uniform today," Akane riposted.

Ranma felt heat rise to her cheeks. "Th-thanks. So did you."

"When you were out in the field no one was able to make a home run. We all had to bunt."

Ranma laughed more easily at this. "Ha! It's a good thing we weren't on the same team. With your precision batting and my golden glove, we'd be unstoppable!"

"We could start a real team. Start playing against other schools."

Ranma shook her head. "Nah, I've already got enough to deal with."

"I know what you mean."

Tofu's clinic was just at the part of the fence where it changed from being three meters tall to about one and a half meters. It reminded Ranma of Akane's training. "Have you been practicing your jumping at all?"

Akane shook her head. "Haven't had the chance yet. We'll have to do that on the way to school tomorrow. Maybe watch Nabiki try it. She's my sister, but watching her fall on her butt is still funny. As long as she doesn't get seriously hurt, of course."

Ranma had to admit that she liked watching Nabiki out of her comfort level. It was good to see that she wasn't always so calm and collected. Compared to Kasumi, though, Nabiki was a basket case. Ranma grimaced. "So, what's your plan with Tofu?"

Akane sighed. "I don't know. I'll just confess I guess. If he loves Kasumi, he loves Kasumi. But if there's a chance, I'll never know unless I'm honest with him."

Ranma nodded as relief passed over her. Akane wasn't going to ask her to do anything dishonorable. In fact, confessing was probably the honorable thing to do. "Okay. I guess you'll want to do that alone. But I'll be in the waiting room, eavesdropping, if you need me."

Akane laughed. "Thanks, Ranma." She grabbed Ranma's hand and leaned into her briefly. "You're a good friend."

Akane held Ranma's hand tighter as the sign to Tofu's clinic came into view, but she released it when they could both see a panda sweeping the grounds.

"Growf." Genma greeted them, raising a black paw in a wave.

"Hey, Pop! I forgot you were working here."

"Growf growfer growf. Growf growf?"

"Don't you got signs to talk with now? Why are you still a panda, anyway?"

In response, Genma raised a sign that read, "I am not a panda, I am a man in a panda suit."

Apparently that was how Genma explained the presence of a zoo animal working outside a chiropractic clinic. Not a zoo animal, just a crazy guy in a suit. Yes, that made perfect sense. Ranma smiled and shook her head. "Anyway, Akane wants to talk with Tofu about something. Is he busy?"

Just then, Tofu came outside, wearing his usual black gi. "Oh hello, Akane-chan! And hello to you, Ranma-chan! Good to see you both. How's Nabiki doing?"

"She's fine, Doctor," Akane said, "Her eye is still bruised; so she's still wearing a patch over it, but she seems okay otherwise."

"Good to hear. I have to say I'm surprised her injuries weren't more severe. When I first saw her I was very worried for her."

Ranma swallowed and nodded.

Tofu smiled, "No need to worry about that now, though, eh? Come inside for some tea, I have some time before my next appointment, and I'd like to discuss your…aversion to water, Ranma-chan."

Ranma and Akane both nodded their assent, and they followed Tofu and Genma into the clinic. Tofu had a thermos of hot water he kept in the room where he saw his patients. Ranma found a stool to sit on and managed to do so, though wearing a skirt made her choose between keeping her knees together, and crossing her legs at the knee, and she wasn't particularly fond of either pose. She settled with crossing her legs, because it seemed a little less passive.

Genma had found a tray of biscuits and was holding them in front of Ranma's face. So she snatched one and put it in her mouth. It was sweet, buttery and crumbly, but now she had entered the minor torture that is having a biscuit without any tea or milk to wash it down with. She looked at the thermos now with renewed interest.

The thermos sat on a small table, acting as a book stop for a row of medical texts. Though Ranma wasn't sure what "Leaping Lizard Moxibustion" was, she was sure it was a serious book that had very important things to say. And she was sure that every reputable doctor probably had a book on "Curing Slimy Spider Sickness." Really the book that disturbed her the most was, "Perfect Normality: Symptoms and Prognosis."

Tofu pressed the top of the thermos, pouring hot water into a small, burnt sienna tea pot filled with tea leaves so that they could steep.

"Let me do that for you, Tofu," Akane said, with just a touch of eagerness in her voice.

Ranma got a little nervous at that. Akane should be fine with just pouring tea, but in some respects she was like a screw up addict, and she could fall off the wagon at any moment.

Tofu smiled, though and said, "Sure Akane, here's my cup!" He moved a mug with an abstract design on it closer to the long-haired girl.

Akane held Tofu's mug in her hands like a bouquet of flowers. Ranma found this a little disgusting, but maybe she really liked the guy and couldn't help being weird about it.

"So Ranma," Tofu said, his hands behind his back, "there are a number of things I've been wondering about this affliction of yours."

"Yeah?"

"You say you got it after you drank a vial of liquid?"

Ranma nodded.

"So someone gave you this potion, then?"

"Yeah, I go- ahem" Ranma coughed some of the dryness out of her throat. "I got it in China."

"In China!" Tofu said, "Wow, that must have been quite an experience for you! Where in China did you go?"

Ranma smiled, liking the chance to brag a bit. "Oh we, that is, me and pop went all over the place there. Shanghai, Beijing, there was a desert I forget the name of…We even spent some time in Tibet, though that's not really part of China, I mean, maybe it is politically? But man, whole different country when you see it. Most of the places we stayed at weren't big cities though. A lot of villages and real small towns. Lot of people just getting by. Some people were even poorer than us, and we barely ever had more'n two coins to scrape together."

"Really? That must have been rough, just a girl and her father, travelling like that."

Ranma eyed the tea, wishing it was ready to drink already. "I ah…I'm not a…that is…hmm. Okay I guess I might as well tell you, 'cause everybody I'd want to keep it from knows already anyway. I got a Jusenkyo curse. Like Pops has."

"A Jusenkyo curse? I've heard of that! Doesn't that mean you turn into something if you're touched with cold water?"

"Tea's ready!" Akane informed them all and presented Tofu with his mug. Then she gave Ranma a cup, and finally took hers to the hospital bed where she sat.

"Thanks," Ranma said gratefully and took a sip of the hot liquid. It burned her mouth a little, but it was good. "Didn't Pops explain it to you when you hired him?"

"No, I don't remember him saying anything about it. Does he change into something I should know about?"

Ranma took another sip of tea, not quite knowing what to say to that. Then the black rotary phone by the door started ringing, and Ranma just decided to let the issue go.

"Mr. Saotome, would you mind getting that?" Tofu requested.

Genma dutifully plodded over to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Growfer growfer?" he said.

Akane sighed and put her mug down carefully on the bed. "I'll get it." She got up and took the receiver from the panda.

_Jeez,_ Ranma thought to herself, _why did he even try to answer the phone if he knew he couldn't talk? If he's going to be a panda he should act like one._ She might have said it out loud, but she didn't want to make fun of her father in front of Tofu.

"Hello, may I ask who's calling, please?" Akane asked.

"Ranma-chan, I can see now why you'd want to take a potion like this, but I'm concerned." Tofu took a sip from his mug. "It takes a lot of energy to deflect water the way you seem to be, you know, and that energy has to come from somewhere."

"Yes, I see. Okay, bye." Akane set the receiver down. "Ranma, could I talk with you for a moment?"

"Uh, sure…excuse me, doc." Ranma got up and followed Akane out of the door. She slid it closed.

"That was Kasumi," Akane said, "She says she's coming over."

"What?" Ranma lowered her voice to a whisper, "You got to confess to Tofu then before she gets here!"

Akane put a hand on her waist. "Well, maybe if someone hadn't been flirting with him for the past five minutes I might have been able to!"

"Who was flirting with him?" Ranma asked confused.

"Don't play dumb!" Akane batted her eyelashes and made her voice high as she said, "Oh I've been all _around_ China, Dr. Tofu!"

"I didn't say it like that! Look, I'm sorry I've been taking up your time. We should have given you an injury or something for him to look at so he would talk to you more."

"Oh," Akane seethed, "So I need an injury for him to talk to me, is that it?"

"I didn't mean it like that! Gods, Akane, we don't have time for this! Or do you want to do it while Kasumi is watching?"

Akane looked down. "No. You're right. I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated. This isn't going how I thought it would."

"Look, I'll stay out here. You just go in there and do what you have to do, okay?"

"I can't! Your dad is still in there!"

Ranma let out a breath of aggravation. She slid open the door. "Hey, Pops! Come out here! I need to talk to you about something!"

The panda cocked his head in a manner that was eerily cute, then he lumbered out of the door.

"Okay, Akane. You can do this. You're a great person, just be honest and go for it okay?" Ranma gave her a quick half hug with one arm and pushed her into Tofu's office. "Ganbatte!" Ranma said and then slid the door closed again.

The literal meaning of "Ganbatte" is closest to "do your best" in English, however in Japanese it often has more of the flavor of "good luck" or even "you go, girl/boy/ambiguously gendered person!" After Ranma slid the door shut, she was rather thrown by the realization that it was the first time she had ever said it to another person that she could remember. It was also the first time she had hugged anybody like that. It happened so naturally, but normally the only time she was that physically close to someone was when she was fighting them. That seemed a bit sad somehow.

Ranma leaned against the door. She felt a little on edge after the sudden whirl of emotions. She wasn't sure what she should do. She looked up at her father who seemed to be scrutinizing her rather closely, though it was difficult to tell whether a panda was scrutinizing you or it was just hungry. "If she says it's okay, I'll let you know what this was about, alright, Pop? It's kinda…personal is all."

"Growf," he said and waddled to the gray vinyl couch in the waiting area to sit.

The outside door opened and Ranma saw something she would have never guessed she would ever see. Nabiki staggered in, breathing heavily as Grandmother Shiratori rode her piggyback into the waiting room. "We're here!" Nabiki observed in an exalted tone. She crouched and the small, elderly lady in traditional garb slid off of her back.

Shiratori gave Nabiki a light jab. "Enough with the theatrics, girl. I don't weigh that much."

"You weigh enough, Grandmother Shiratori." Nabiki took a few ragged breaths as Shiratori got out her staff and started shuffling away. Nabiki crossed her arms. "I thought you and Akane were going to the market."

Ranma was still trying to process what she had just seen and was seeing. "Uh, yeah, we're still going to do that, Akane just wanted to talk with Tofu about…something first."

Shiratori squinted at Ranma for a moment and then exclaimed, "Oh look! It's that Saotome girl! Tell me, child, have you lost your soul yet?"

"Huh?"

"Growf!" Genma said angrily as he stood up.

"You mustn't be too upset, Mr. Fat Panda. You aren't so much losing a son as gaining a daughter after all." Shiratori cackled after this.

Ranma wasn't sure how to take this. She was still getting over watching Nabiki carry the old woman into the room on her back. "I…uh…I'm not losing my soul, far as I know."

Shiratori shook her head. "She's coming up in you, girl. She doesn't want to, but she can't help it. I see her mark on Nabiki's face. That weakened her, but she'll come back stronger. I were you, I'd find a way to cure this curse of yours."

"I'm tryin' to do that!" Ranma protested, focusing on the part of what she heard that made sense.

Shiratori shook her head. "Oh? What have you done? You look very pretty in your uniform, by the way."

"I took a vial…" Ranma started, then decided she was sick of explaining herself, "It's not important! I haven't given up okay? I just don't see many options at this point."

The old lady shook her head. "You have the wills of too many people on you, child. You need to strengthen your own will. But what do I know? I'm just an old woman." She shuffled off to the gray couch, took a seat and picked up a magazine.

Ranma's attention drifted back toward Nabiki who was still catching her breath as she staggered past her. "I made the mistake of telling her that I was training again," Nabiki explained as she sat down on the couch herself. "And don't make any approving gestures or say anything good about it, or I swear, Saotome, I will kill you, and I will make it look like an accident."

Ranma held her hands up, but she couldn't help smiling about it.

Nabiki sighed. "Look, if you don't want to forfeit to Kuno, you don't have to. I can make the favor something else."

"What, did you just remember you had a thing for him or something?"

"Ranma, if you want Kuno, you're more than welcome to him. That ship has sailed and fallen off the non-existent edge of the Earth. Now, if you're interested in learning how to bleed him for everything he's worth, you let me know and we can work something out." She took a deep breath and wiped some of the sweat from her brow with her hand. "No, I was just pissed at you and feeling vindictive. Brief lapse in judgment. Not my finest hour."

Ranma thought about what Nabiki said for a moment, then she smiled and said, "No backsies. You said that was the favor, so that's the favor."

Nabiki smiled as well. "I figured. I forgot that I got you all insecure about your orientation. For the record, I think you're handling it a lot better than when I pulled the same trick on Akane. I did the same thing you're doing when I was about fourteen or so. You date a few guys, you date a few girls, you find out. And knowledge is power. " She did a little salute with two fingers that was at once self deprecating and expressive.

Ranma chuckled. "I like you better when you're exhausted."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Well I like you better when you're not retarded."

"Hey!"

Nabiki held up a hand, "I know, I know, I shouldn't insult retarded people that way."

Ranma could only laugh at that one.

Just then Akane and Tofu came out of his office. Tofu slid the door shut. Akane looked…confused.

"How...did it go?" Ranma asked slowly hoping that she wasn't tipping anybody off to what Akane was doing by asking.

"Oh, Akane and I decided to go see a movie together. Anybody else want to come?"

Nabiki laughed explosively, and raised her hand, then Genma did as well. Finally, reluctantly, Ranma raised her hand, "If it's okay…"

"Great!" Dr. Tofu said. "The more the merrier!"

Emotions were playing across Akane's face like a kaleidoscope.

Ranma bit her lip. "Hey, uh Tofu? Where's the bathroom?"

Tofu pointed down the hall and Ranma went in that direction, hoping Akane would take the hint and follow her. Ranma thought she was pretty clever, thinking of this way to talk to Akane alone, without anybody realizing.

Ranma waited by the door inside the restroom. "Really, Ranma?" Akane said when she came in, "the restroom trick? Gods, everybody knows now. I'm so embarrassed."

"I'm…sorry?" Ranma tried.

"Stop it." Akane said, tears starting to leak from her eyes. "Stop it with the sorrys. I'm sick of you trying to placate me all the time. Just be a jerk to me. Please. I deserve it."

Ranma shrugged, "Okay. So what exactly were you expecting? He's like ten years older than you… at least. He could almost be your father."

"I know!"

"What's he going to do, drop you off at school and go back to his office to realign a joint afterward?"

"I confessed to him, Ranma. I said I liked him, and you know what he said?" Akane was in full on cry mode now.

"Uh, still being a jerk here, but my guess is he said he liked you back? I mean, he's a nice guy, Akane, what's he going to do, say he hates you?"

"I know! I know! But then I said I liked him more than that, I said that he was the only man I felt I could trust!"

"And he brought up your father, didn't he?"

"He made me feel like a…like a…"

"Like a pervert?"

"Yes!" Akane collapsed into Ranma's arms.

Ranma just held her awkwardly at first. Then she hesitantly put her arms around her friend. She rubbed her back."Nobody's perfect, Akane. I mean, I come pretty close, but even I've got problems every now and then."

"Okay," Akane said, "You can stop being a jerk now,"

"Are you sure? 'Cause I could keep going."

Akane released Ranma and backed off. She had an odd look in her eye. Almost as if pulled by a force Ranma felt her head moving toward Akane's centimeter by centimeter…

Then Akane pulled back. And Ranma followed suit. Akane was blushing, and Ranma felt heat on her own cheeks.

"We're both girls," Akane whispered.

Ranma crossed her arms. "Well, uh… you wouldn't be the first girl I kissed."

"No." Akane put her hands up. "We're not going there. We're friends, okay? I'm not a lesbian, I just got confused for a second. That's it."

Ranma frowned. "Akane…I'm still confused."

"Well, you better get un-confused! I can't have some pervert lusting over me in my own home!"

"It's just that… well, couldn't we see how it is? That way we know one way or the other and we won't be worrying about it all the time."

"I don't worry about it, ever!"

Ranma sighed. "Whatever. I won't ask again. It's just I still can't figure out whether I'm a lesbian or not."

"Just decide not to be!"

"But then I have to like guys, and I don't like that idea any better."

Akane stared at Ranma for a moment, then she turned away. "Honestly, Ranma, I see what you're saying. Maybe you're right, but if we are going to…experiment? Let's do it with other people. I don't want to lose you."

Ranma wondered at Akane's use of "we" instead of "you." Did Akane feel the same way?

Ranma realized with a shock that she did.

Akane had no more idea about her sexuality than Ranma did, and vice versa. She and Akane were in exactly the same situation. In other words, Ranma felt exactly the same way about relationships as a girl did.

Tasuke was right, Ranma concluded. She really was a girl…when she was a girl. _Well, duh!_ Ranma shook her head. How many times did she have to tell herself that? Still she felt like things were adjusting themselves in her brain and she felt somehow more comfortable with her situation. She put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't want to lose you either," she said.

"Best friends forever?" Akane held out her pinky.

Ranma hesitated for a moment, but then she smiled and wrapped her pinky around Akane's. "Best friends. Forever."

~~~~~.~~~~~

When Ranma and Akane left the bathroom they found that Kasumi had arrived in their absence, while Nabiki, Genma and Shiratori had all apparently left. Dr. Tofu had a crazed look about his face, or at least the part of his face that wasn't obscured by the bright pink bandanna he had tied around his mouth.

"Hello, Kasumi-oneesan," Akane greeted her sister. Ranma noticed Kasumi was holding an open box of candies.

Tofu pointed at Akane's direction after hearing her speak, "Betty-chan! Where is Kasumi's tea? It's Thirstday you know!"

Akane chuckled nervously. "I'm Akane, Doctor Tofu."

As Ranma got closer, she could see that Tofu's glasses were fogged up, which partially explained why Tofu might have confused Akane with someone else. "Oh hello, Akane-chan!" Tofu said brightly, "Have you met your sister, Tendo Kasumi?"

"Yes, I believe we are acquainted."

Kasumi laughed musically at this. "Let me lower your mask," she entreated the young doctor, "so you can have one of the candies." She reached up and moved the bandanna down so now it was around Tofu's neck.

"Thank you, Betty-chan!" Tofu exclaimed, "I believe I'll have one right now!" Tofu put a candy in his mouth and then promptly whirled around like a marionette caught in a ceiling fan. "Let me check on that tea!" he said in an oddly quixotic tone as he charged into his office with his index finger raised in front of his face.

Ranma rubbed her eyes, not sure if she had just seen what she thought she saw. Then she turned as the outside door opened and Nabiki entered, looking…concerned. "Hey. Is everything alright?"

Ranma snorted. "Define 'alright'."

Nabiki walked farther into the room. "Is Tofu acting… strangely by any chance?"

Kasumi covered her mouth daintily with her fingers "Oh, Tofu is always acting silly."

Akane sighed. "Believe it or not he's totally different when you're not around."

The door to Tofu's office slid open and Genma came out with tea for Kasumi, which Kasumi accepted graciously. Apparently Genma hadn't left, he had just gone into the office to make tea. "So where's old lady Shiratori?" Ranma asked.

"She ran out of here as soon as Kasumi showed up," Nabiki said, "I followed her out. Apparently my older sister has something of a reputation. Care to comment, older sister?"

Kasumi shrugged. "Who knows? The elderly in our neighborhood are sweet people, but I'm afraid many of them have some backward superstitions."

"Superstitions." Nabiki repeated. "Kasumi, Grandmother Shiratori made me carry her in here her back was hurting so bad. Then you come in and she's practically doing cartwheels trying to get out of here. She says when you're here, Dr. Tofu goes insane. Is that true?"

"Oh that's just Dr. Tofu's bedside manner. He makes jokes so his treatments don't hurt as much."

Tofu chose that moment to burst back out of his office carrying Betty-chan beside him. "Oh hello, Nabiki-chan. Have you met Betty-chan?" Tofu motioned toward Ranma with his hand.

"Betty?" Nabiki clarified, "That's Ranma."

Tofu held his anatomical skeleton, by the skull and jaw, making the mouth open and close as he talked in a squeaky voice. "Hello there, Nabiki! I am Betty! Pleased to meet you! Take care of me, okay?" Tofu moved his right hand to the skeleton's back and made the skeleton bow deeply with his left hand still holding her skull. When "Betty" rose up again, Tofu turned her skull toward Ranma. "Hello, Ranma-chan!" Tofu used his right hand to wave Betty's hand. "I'm Betty! I'm a huuuuman skeleton!" Tofu's voice sounded like something out of a children's puppet show.

Ranma walked closer, cautiously. "I can see that."

"I was flensed by beetles after I died!" Tofu, speaking as Betty assured Ranma. "That really tickled!"

Kasumi was there, smiling a little wider than normal, as if she were rather entertained by the display. Nabiki's eyes were wide as well as she watched Tofu, though her expression belied a decidedly different emotion. Akane's back was turned toward Ranma, so she couldn't see her expression. "Uh, what does 'flensed' mean?"

"It's how they strip the flesh from bones to create skeletons," Nabiki replied in a monotone without changing her expression. "They put the body in a box with bugs that eat the flesh off."

"Are _you_ ticklish, Ranma-chan?" Tofu had Betty ask, "I bet you aaaaare!" He made her finger wiggle ominously toward Ranma.

"Cut it out, Dr. Tofu!" Ranma backed away. "It ain't funny!"

But Tofu lunged forward and Betty's bony finger jabbed into Ranma's side. Suddenly, it felt like her skin was crawling with bugs. "Arrgh! What did you do to me?" She tried patting herself down, itching, everything, but she couldn't get away from the feeling, and it was intensifying.

Tofu laughed, "You were right, Betty-chan! Ranma-chan _is_ ticklish!"

"Yeah, I admit it, I'm ticklish. Can you fix what you did now?" Ranma spoke through grit teeth. Now it felt like her skin was peeling slowly away from her body.

"But Ranma-chan, if you're ticklish, why aren't you laughing?" Tofu asked.

"Because it hurts like hell!" Ranma screamed.

Tofu made Betty's head hang down. "Aw, now Betty's sad. Cheer up, Betty-chan! Here I'll give you a ride on my back, would you like that?" Tofu made Betty's head bob up and down. Then he put Betty on his back and started prancing out of the building, making "Whoop, whoop!" noises.

"Bye bye, Betty!" Kasumi waved to Tofu and Betty as they left, then she turned toward the rest of them. "Isn't Dr. Tofu funny?"

"Hilarious," Nabiki deadpanned.

Ranma collapsed on the ground as she felt like her muscles were tearing free of their tendons. She tried to talk but it was only coming out as a whimper. Akane and Nabiki both had helpless expressions on their faces and Genma's panda face was unreadable. Ranma's eyes were wide and she was tensing all of her muscles against the pain. The room started to go dark. She could dimly see Akane's expression change as she moved behind her. She felt Akane's strong fingers on her back and suddenly…

The pain was gone. She was relaxed. Everything was cool. Funny even. Ranma giggled, then she chuckled, then she laughed almost to the point where she couldn't breathe. Then, finally it was over. After a few breaths, Ranma sat up. "I think I'm okay… Thanks, Akane." Actually, there was a residual ache. Like a headache only all over her body, but that was bearable.

Kasumi finished her tea. Oddly, she wasn't smiling anymore. "Well, I suppose we can all go to the market together now."

"Actually, big sister, if you'll go on, I think I have something to discuss with my fellow martial artists." Nabiki smiled, playing it like a joke, but Ranma knew Nabiki was being serious. Angry even. Otherwise her tone would have been more light and airy.

"Okay, little sister." Kasumi walked to the door, "I'll see you all at dinner tonight, though, right?"

"Sure, Kasumi. We'll be there." Nabiki's eyes followed her sister, watching her leave. When Kasumi was out of the door, Nabiki went into Tofu's office.

Ranma frowned, "I don't get it. He was fine at the hospital when he was showing us Nabiki's X-rays. Kasumi was there then."

Akane's eyes widened. "That's right! She was there in the same room as Tofu. But Tofu was fine. You think maybe it was the seriousness of the situation that kept Tofu focused?"

"I don't know." Ranma said as she sat on the waiting room couch. "I don't remember seeing any kind of affect at all. And now this?"

Nabiki came out of Tofu's office with his thermos and poured the rest of its contents on Genma's head. "I could use your help…sensei."

"My help with what?" Genma adjusted his glasses. He was fully clothed in his gi and bandana, for which Ranma was thankful, but it did make her wonder how he was able to do that.

Nabiki made eye contact with everyone in the room. "We have to stop whatever Kasumi is doing to Dr. Tofu."

~~~~~End chapter 8~~~~~

Author's Note:

7/24/10: This was an extremely difficult chapter to write. Mostly because there was a lot of stuff I wanted to reveal but it's still way too early to get to those things. What you've just read is really only half the work I've put into this. There's another 20 pages of stuff I had to cut, because it didn't make sense and/or it didn't quite mesh with the characters. There are some things that I realize might not be clear at this point and I don't know if I'll be able to clarify them in the actual fic, so I thought I'd give some explanations here. So here goes...

Tofu at the hospital: When Nabiki got hurt, Tofu was the first person the family called. Although he is a chiropractor I also see him as the Tendos family doctor, their GP, so he would be on their speed dial. He would have taken her to the hospital and other doctors specializing in head injuries would have taken over from there. In the scene back in chapter 5, Tofu is acting as a go between for the family, describing the results of the tests that other doctors have done. To be honest, I probably would write the scene differently now, and I may do an edit sometime later, but that seems vaguely like cheating so I don't like to do that too much. I'm actually kind of surprised no one questioned why he was there and acting normal yet. Anyway, a good part of the fun I have with fanfiction is figuring out ways to get out of the mistakes I make in earlier chapters, and I think the explanation for this one will be fairly satisfying.

Genma working as a panda: So there are a number of issues here. First, the manga has Genma using signs all over the place at this point already, while the anime takes a more conservative approach. I wanted to inject a little more realism by making it so Genma actually has to write out the signs in advance so he can pull them out when a situation arises. Later on, he'll find a way around this, but the idea is he's still perfecting his technique. In the third chapter, when he talks about asking Tofu for a job, one might easily assume he asked Tofu as a human. But I checked, and he never said that explicitly. And in the anime, Tofu seems oddly unaware of Genma's panda-hood. He asks him to pick up the phone and so on, and yet why, when there is obviously hot water available, is Genma still a panda? I thought the panda-suit idea would somewhat solve the problem. So basically Tofu hired Genma, thinking he was an eccentric fellow who liked to dress up as a panda and talk through written messages.

Tense changes: I've gotten a number of comments on this. I think I might need to fix a few things in the first chapter or so, but basically the deal is when Ranma is in hot water, the story is in present tense. The original idea being that every chapter would consist of Ranma remembering his/her day. This became a big problem with chapter 3 and 4, because the furo is most definitely broken at that point so if I wanted to have Ranma "remember" everything, she would have to be in the furo for about a year. There was and is a reason for it though, and so I'm still switching tenses when Ranma is in hot water. I'm not entirely sure my reason is good enough to make up for the awkwardness, but it's enough to make me stubborn about it. I'll try to make the tense changes as unobtrusive as possible. With this chapter I made sure to separate the present tense part out and put it in italics. I plan on fixing earlier chapters similarly.

Ranma's sexuality: Some people had problems with Ranma getting kissed by Kuno last chapter. Yes it was only three days since Ranma drank the vial, and believe me, I wasn't sure if I should have it in or not, but there were just too many reasons for it to happen. The main thing is that after Nabiki kisses her Ranma sees her lack of experience as a weakness and so she's hoping to correct that weakness. I think we can agree that Ranma was not sexually active in canon. Until he met Akane, he had no reason to really question things, and now she's a little neurotic about it. An added complication is that females tend to be less rigid about their orientation. I tend to think of Ranma as being heterosexual as a male, but when she's female I don't think it's nearly as clear. I don't like to put matchups in the description, because I think things should follow the character's progression rather than some predetermined destiny set forth by the writer. I am not going to have Ranma matched up with Nabiki, because I've already done that, and she's _probably_ not going to end up with Akane, but beyond that, who knows? I have the main plot of this fic worked out pretty far ahead, but I have no real idea what's going to happen with the romantic stuff. I do have someone I'm rooting for, and you may be able to guess who, but I don't even know if they're going to make it in the fic before things get wrapped up. Basically, as it stands right now, all bets are off.

As always, thank you for your wonderful comments. I appreciate even the negative ones as they make me think about things in a different light.

Take care,

-Z


	9. Sit in Deceit and Look through Defense

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 9: Sit in Deceit and Look through Defense

In this chapter, Ranma, Genma, Nabiki, and Akane attempt to discover what Kasumi is doing to Dr. Tofu.

~~~~~.~~~~~

**Disclaimer**: You Tube is nice for watching episodes of Ranma 1/2, but the original creator, Takahashi Rumiko and the various companies responsible for the anime and manga deserve something for making them. If you haven't already, please buy at least a dvd of the anime or a volume of the manga. Otherwise you will awake naked, hairless and alone in an unfamiliar town whose denizens can only communicate with each other via alternating blasts from their vuvuzelas.

~~~~~Ch.9: Sit in Deceit and Look through Defense~~~~~~

Ranma sat on the gray, cushioned waiting room couch in Tofu's clinic, her eyes wide as she stared at Nabiki, who was still holding the empty thermos she had used to douse Genma with hot water. "We have to stop whatever Kasumi is doing to Dr. Tofu," Nabiki said, making eye contact with Genma, Akane and Ranma.

If Ranma hadn't already been sitting down, she would have had to after hearing Nabiki's proclamation. The way she had phrased it, it almost sounded like Kasumi made Tofu act crazy _on purpose_. And if that were true, that meant she had found a way to get back at Ranma ten-fold, even a hundred-fold. She _still _ached from that pressure point maneuver Tofu used on her. If Akane hadn't been there to relax her muscles she might have permanently injured herself.

Akane stood behind the couch across from Ranma, her arms crossed. "Kasumi isn't doing anything to Tofu, Nabiki, he just likes Kasumi, that's all,"

Nabiki stared at her younger sister for a moment. "Akane," she put the thermos on an end table on top of a short stack of magazines. "Love can make people do crazy things? But there's crazy and then there's insane." Nabiki made her fingers explode out of her temples. "You saw what he did to Ranma. I heard from Grandmother Shiratori that he's also done things like that to his patients when Kasumi comes around. Tofu's patients are old, Akane. Something like that," Nabiki nodded toward Ranma to indicate the aftermath of the pressure point, "could _kill_ one of them. We have to stop whatever it is from happening again."

Genma nodded slowly. "Your father told me about a curse that Kasumi had once that Tofu cured. Could that have something to do with it?"

"Kasumi had a curse?" Ranma asked.

"Yes." Akane looked off at nothing, holding the elbow her hanging right arm with her left hand. "I think that's how Tofu fell in love with her. He spent a lot of time with her when he was trying to cure her. And they couldn't be together because she was underage even though he was only twenty. That explains it doesn't it?"

"Explains what?" Ranma asked, irritated. "What curse did she have? How did Tofu cure her? And why, if he loves her so much, did he run off with a skeleton dummy he probably named after an old girlfriend. Oh, gods! What if it that _was_ his old girlfriend!"

"He inherited the skeleton from his father, Ranma." Akane let go of her arm, "And he left because he was nervous, that's all."

"Akane, nervousness doesn't even begin to explain it," Nabiki sat on the arm of the couch across from Ranma, her arms folded as she addressed her. "Kasumi's curse wasn't like a Jusenkyo curse. She couldn't get rid of it with hot water, and it would have killed her if Tofu hadn't helped. She spent two or three months in this clinic while Tofu tried to cure her. It's possible something might have happened then. Could it just be that Tofu fell in love?" Nabiki shook her head. "That's a simple explanation, and so it survives Occam's razor, but I just don't see how being horny might make someone harm other people like that." She crossed her legs and put her elbow on her knee, resting her chin on her hand. "Sensei, you're a man, and you've lived longer. What do you think?"

Ranma winced a bit at not being asked to give the male perspective. She spent sixteen years as a guy, shouldn't that count for something? But she let it go.

Genma crossed his arms and looked down in thought. "If a man is denied something he craves, that craving can overwhelm him. It need not be sexual, but desire of any kind is a flame that is fed by the absence of fuel. This is actually one of the fundamental precepts of our school."

"So it's possible then. You think Akane is right?"

Genma shook his head. "If it was something like that. I would expect him to mindlessly attempt to satisfy his desire in some way. I would think he would have attacked Kasumi, or something equally disturbing. Instead he exercised a great deal of restraint. In fact the only one who got hurt was Ranma."

"Honestly! Of course Tofu isn't going to try to rape her or anything! He would never do that!" Akane leaned on the back of the couch her sister was sitting on as she gesticulated.

Nabiki regarded her sister. "He's aware enough to keep from doing that, but not enough to keep from hurting someone?"

Genma smiled, "Then again, men often do silly things for women. You know your father would keep getting beaten up by your mother, just to get her to go out with him?"

"Wait a minute." Nabiki put her hands up. "This is getting too confusing. We have several questions here. First is Tofu doing these things on purpose? Next, how is Kasumi targeting his actions? And finally How is this happening?"

"It didn't seem like Tofu really wanted to hurt me," Ranma mused, "He could have done that earlier if he wanted to. It was like he just didn't realize what he was doing. He was going through some kind of mind trip or something."

Nabiki nodded. "I agree. For him to treat patients and then try to hurt him, he has to be deluded or suffering a schizoid break. Any other thoughts?"

"The young doctor seems a little too willing to accept things at face value even when he's calm," Genma said pensively, "He didn't question my story at all when I applied for a job, for instance. When he went crazy it was really more of an exaggeration of personality traits he already possessed. I don't think whatever his trigger is resembles a switch so much as a leaky faucet."

"That's a good point." Nabiki pointed at Genma, her eyebrows raised. "That suggests there might be varying intensities. There is something that turns his craziness on, but it can have a larger or smaller effect. And it isn't simply Kasumi herself because, as Ranma pointed out, he was fine in the hospital when she was in the room with him."

"He was just concentrating on what he was doing more then," Akane argued.

"So you're saying that he hurt Ranma and Grandmother Shiratori on purpose, then?" Nabiki asked.

"No! He was…he just wasn't prepared! That's all. At the hospital he knew Kasumi was going to be there, so he was able to ignore her."

Nabiki looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "That actually makes some sense. Instead of the trigger not being there, maybe Tofu did something to limit its affect. We need to talk with Dr. Tofu about it. He has to have some opinion about it. Or maybe he's hiding something too."

"What is it about Kasumi that sets him off, anyway?" Ranma asked. "I mean, if Kasumi put a bag over her head would Tofu still go crazy? Is he okay when he talks to her on the phone?"

"He's in love with her! It doesn't matter how she looks or sounds as long as he knows it's her, he'll get nervous!" Akane seemed to be getting more and more exasperated.

"Except that one time when he didn't," Ranma noted drily.

Akane stormed around Nabiki and sat on the couch crossing her arms angrily.

Nabiki eyed this with amusement. "Well, you say she was in the waiting room at the hospital while Tofu was there. Was she visible to him then?"

"Yeah. And she talked."

"So unless Tofu was doing something himself to keep from losing it, the trigger couldn't be visual or auditory."

"Dr. Tofu started to be affected before Kasumi touched him or fed him one of her sweets," Genma added, "So that rules out touch and taste as well."

"Which leaves smell," Nabiki pointed out. "That would work. Kasumi could wear a certain perfume when she wanted Tofu to go crazy and she could decide not to wear it if she didn't want him to."

"Kasumi would never do that!" Akane almost screamed.

"…unless she wanted Tofu to hurt people," Ranma finished sourly.

Nabiki nodded. "Which explains why neither Akane nor I have ever been hurt by him. We're family, so we're off limits."

"And Kasumi wanted to get back at me for the thumbtacks," Ranma continued nodding.

There was a long moment of silence. Ranma noticed everyone's mouth was open and they were staring at her. "What?"

"_You_ stuck her with the thumbtacks," Nabiki stated for clarification.

Ranma suddenly remembered that that was kind of a secret.

"Ranma, how could you! She could have tetanus now because of you!" Akane backed away in horror.

"Kasumi is a sweet girl, Ranma. I'm so ashamed!" Genma put his head in the crook of his elbow, though the extent of his melodrama made it obvious he was just joking.

Nabiki laughed. "Kasumi is a vindictive bitch, and it's about time someone other than me realized it. She put those tacks in your bed, didn't she?"

Ranma smiled. "Yeah. I almost didn't see them."

"Classic Kasumi. My favorite is the one where she 'accidently' forgets to take the pins out of your school uniform after she gets it altered. That's subtlety. I started going to Amiko after she pulled that one on me. "

Ranma nodded "And this morning she timed it so that when she said breakfast was ready, Pops would get distracted just at the moment when Akane was punching him."

"Ah so that's why you were saying I had a great…" Nabiki stopped. She leaned back looking momentarily confused.

"What is it, Nabiki?" Akane asked.

Nabiki waved her off. "It's nothing. Just something Grandmother Shiratori said to me today. So Kasumi is probably using a perfume to set Tofu off, and she has some way of targeting specific people."

"We don't know that!" Akane protested.

"True, but it fits the evidence we have so far. I know that Kasumi was never a big fan of Grandmother Shiratori, so that would explain why she ran out of here so fast. Maybe if we talk to some of Tofu's other patients we can figure out whether Kasumi had a grudge with them or not."

"What did Shiratori-san do to Kasumi?" Akane asked, her tone briefly going from furious to curious.

Nabiki tilted her head as she remembered. "I was there. Kasumi was passing by and Grandmother Shiratori tells her 'nothing you're doing now will avenge your mother's death.'"

"How _dare_ she!"

Nabiki shrugged. "It was the truth. But what was strange was Kasumi. For a moment, she seemed like a completely different person; her posture, her facial expression, it was all different. And then she went back to that vapid smile of hers. I could tell Grandmother Shiratori had pulled one of her threads. I didn't think she had any threads to pull."

"Kasumi's smile isn't vapid! She's just a nice person!"

Ranma crossed her arms. "Akane, you know how you told me sometimes you delude yourself into thinking something's true, when you know at some level that it's not? You're doing it again."

Akane gave Ranma a wicked look. Then she stood up. "Fine! You're right! Kasumi has a mean streak, okay? I just…" She started pacing. "I don't know how to handle this. How could she do this? How could she lie to us all this time? If she's so angry, she should share that with us shouldn't she? If she's keeping all that pain inside her while she pretends like everything is okay…"

"She might explode." Genma's voice was shocking in its solidity. "Ranma, are you sure Kasumi was watching my fight with Akane? You're sure she timed her distraction?"

"Pretty sure, yeah. Especially now that it seems like she's doing this thing to Doctor Tofu. I was looking for her to do something to you this morning, and she did."

Genma sat down on the couch as he thought it over. "When did Kasumi renounce the Art?"

"About five years ago," Nabiki said. "She got the curse a few months after that. Why do you want to know?"

Genma put a hand to his chin. "I'm getting a different picture of your sister now, and it worries me. Is it possible she could still be practicing the art in secret?"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Akane protested from the window. "You were in the hospital with us, Uncle Saotome, you remember how upset she was that Ranma resorted to violence. Maybe she can be cruel, but she would never lie to us outright like that! Kasumi does not believe in fighting. That's that."

"Maybe she just doesn't like the idea of her sisters fighting," Ranma thought out loud.

Genma took a large breath. "It seems to me, that Kasumi is a woman with three hearts. We're just becoming aware of the second heart."

Nabiki nodded. "There has to be a reason why she's doing this." She looked at the clock on the wall. "It's getting late. I'll talk to some of his patients and set up that surveillance for the times when we aren't around Kasumi. Akane, you and Ranma both have challenges to get to, but you're cooking tonight, right? Maybe you can figure something out from her then. And, Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"You've gotten under her skin. See if you can find a way to provoke her further. Just…don't do anything to her you wouldn't do to Akane, okay? She's still my sister, even if she is a bitch. And it's not like I'm winning any congeniality awards either."

"Hey, you called me 'Ranma,' what happened to 'Saotome?'"

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Don't get full of yourself. Your dad's in the room. It would be confusing if I called you 'Saotome.'" Her eyes moved to the door for a moment. "Okay. You two," She indicated Ranma and Akane, "need to get to your challenges. Sensei, you're staying here to wait for Tofu, right?"

"For another hour or so. I don't plan on missing supper."

"Right. We'll all convene at the dojo after supper to compare notes. Meeting adjourned." Nabiki banged on the coffee table with her fist in lieu of a gavel. Then she left out the outside door.

Ranma looked at Akane. They shrugged at each other. Then Akane helped Ranma up and they left. "See ya pops!" Ranma called out as she left.

~~~~~.~~~~~

Ranma jumped on top of the roof of the building next to the abandoned lot where Akane was to have her challenge. She waited for a few moments, then set the bag of potato chips Kuno had bought for her on the roof and looked down.

Kuno was getting a ladder and propping it up on the building.

"You need any help?" Ranma asked.

Kuno put his foot on the first rung. "I regret that I cannot ascend with the grace that you have shown, yet I believe that like Jacob in the stories of Christendom I will find my way to heaven where you wait."

"Right. Well don't take too long, I don't know when it's going to start."

The sun was setting, and the shadows of Akane and Chiba Sentaro, the lanky kid with the bowl cut she was facing, were thrown stretched far to the right along the scruffy grass of the lot. Ranma opened the bag of potato chips and put one in her mouth and crunched down on it. Akane's stance was good. Chiba was circling around her, but as long as Akane didn't get impatient, she should be fine. She should be fine anyway; the kid didn't look like much of a threat. But Nabiki said he was into explosives, which might make things more interesting.

Kuno sat beside her. She took another chip and then offered the bag to him. He held up his hand. "Later, my angel. First, since this is to be our first date, let me give you this."

Kuno handed Ranma something. Ranma glanced briefly away from the fight to see what it was. It was yellow, pink, and lumpy. "What is it?" Ranma asked.

"It's a cute little dolly."

"Oh," Ranma said. "Thanks. Was I supposed to get you something too? I never been on a date before. Don't know what the rules are." Ranma sat the doll on the other side of her so that it was like another spectator.

"Your overwhelming beauty is more than enough for me," Kuno assured.

"Oh," Ranma said, "Cool."

Meanwhile Chiba was getting closer to Akane. "Well come on," he jeered in a nasal tone. "Aren't you going to fight?"

Akane tensed for a moment, and then she smiled. She relaxed into a cat stance. Ranma didn't like the name but it was one of the more easy going stances that still provided a measure of stability. Back foot firmly placed with the toe of the front foot resting lightly on the ground. "Your move," Akane said.

Ranma ate a handful of potato chips, and offered the bag to Kuno again. This time the Kendoist took a handful for himself.

Chiba made a jab at Akane. Akane dodged. Emboldened, he tried a haymaker. Akane dodged and pushed the lab coated boy in the direction of his momentum causing him to stumble forward a little. He immediately backed up from his position. Almost as if he didn't want to step out of a circle.

"He is so dead!" Ranma laughed.

"You did not think that weakling stood a chance, did you my goddess? Akane is a fierce tigress!"

"Yeah, but she's got problems with anger, and that kid was trying to goad her out of the circle. He probably planted land mines all over the place."

"Landmines? That low-borne miscreant!"

"He's from the chemistry club. How did you expect him to attack her?" Ranma asked.

"Poison of some kind. Gas or injection. My sister is fond of such methods."

Ranma hadn't thought of that. That did make a lot more sense. "So your sister's a martial artist, is she?"

Kuno snorted. "Hardly. She studies gymnastics and implements goonish tactics to ensure her victories. Truly a vile woman."

"Huh," Ranma said, returning her attention to the fight. Now that she was worried about poisoning things didn't seem as clear.

Chiba was being more cautious. He tried kicking Akane in the shin, but she switched leg positions just in time, then she pulled off a crescent kick that slammed the sole of her shoe into Chiba's cheek. It wasn't very powerful, but it caused the kid to stagger to the side. Throughout the whole fight Akane hadn't moved from her original position.

Chiba tried walking in close, and kneeing Akane in the stomach, only to find her elbow crushing into his collarbone. Finally, he let out a growl of frustration and made a whipping motion with his arm. "Uh oh. That must be a syringe or something."

But Akane must have caught it too, because before Chiba could advance, Akane stepped forward slamming her foot into a new, solid stance and then delivering a powerful sidekick that pummeled into Chiba's solar plexus sending him about a meter back to collapse on the ground, right about where Ranma guessed the line of mines must be.

The explosion that subsequently occurred was beautiful. Ranma had to give the kid props for that. Chiba flew up in the air almost level to the roof Ranma was watching from, and then he came flopping back down to the ground like a rag doll. Ranma clapped in applause and Kuno joined in a moment later.

"Great job, Akane!" Ranma called out.

Akane looked up at Ranma and waved, beaming. Then she saw who Ranma was sitting next to, and her smile faded.

"Masterfully executed!" Kuno agreed.

Ranma jumped down to talk to her friend directly. "Couldn't have done better myself. That was awesome." Ranma lifted her hand to give Akane a high five.

"Why is Kuno here?" Akane asked querulously.

Ranma looked back briefly to see Kuno navigating the ladder back to the ground. "Well I had to forfeit, remember? So I had to go on a date with him. I said I wasn't free again until Tuesday but he wanted a date now. We both wanted to see you fight…" she shrugged.

"Are you going to kiss him again?"

Ranma looked away, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. "Maybe. I hadn't thought about it, but that's what happens at the end of a date isn't it? Why?" She brought her gaze back to Akane

It was getting dark, but Akane's face seemed to have more shadows than it ought to have. "I don't know, Ranma."

Ranma lowered her voice so Kuno still wouldn't be able to hear her, as he was walking closer. "We agreed, didn't we? That we'd…experiment?"

"I know! I just… could you maybe not experiment in front of my face?"

A light breeze blew between them. The streetlights overhead crackled and turned on. Ranma sighed. "You got a history with Kuno. I get it. He's been a jerk to you. Maybe worse. I don't like him or anything. I just…" Kuno was getting in earshot. "If you would rather be alone, Kuno and I will go another way, okay?"

"Nonsense! A lady mustn't travel alone in the city at night!" Kuno protested.

Ranma put a hand on his shoulder, "Cool it, Kuno. She can handle herself. You just saw her do that, didn't you? If she wants to walk home by herself, she can."

Kuno seemed unsure. "If it is what she wants…"

"It's what I want," Akane said sharply.

Kuno nodded slowly. "Then, Lady Akane, I will give you my leave for the evening." Kuno bowed. "And congratulations on an unequivocal victory. Lady Ranma?" Kuno offered his arm.

Ranma took it hesitatingly. She and Kuno walked out of the lot, Ranma subtly guiding Kuno along the path Akane had taken, so as not to walk over any undetonated mines. When they were at the street again, Ranma stopped. "Hey, um, Akane?"

"What?" Akane asked, obviously still annoyed at the whole situation.

"Make sure that Chiba guy is okay, alright? He didn't have any training. He knew what he was getting into, but, you know, it would suck if he…died or something."

Akane looked back briefly, and she nodded. "I'll take him to the hospital if he needs it," she assured Ranma.

"I'll meet you at the house!" Ranma called.

Akane waved her off, still looking annoyed overall.

Ranma turned onto a side road so she and Kuno would a different way from the straightforward route to the Tendos' house.

"It is a marvelous night, is it not?" Kuno said after a minute or so of walking.

There was a slight chill in the air. The streetlights threw yellow light onto the sidewalk around them while the sky still retained a dark shade of blue. "Yeah, I guess so," Ranma responded. "I kind of like the nights out in the country better though. I like to be able to see the stars."

"How true! This modern land of concrete and steel towers seems to slowly kill the soul. It is as if we were divorced from nature. And yet… there is a fervor in a city. A thrumming of life that one can feel like a pulse if one but looks for it." Kuno released Ranma's arm and stopped. "Listen for a moment, my fiery goddess."

Shrugging, Ranma did as Kuno asked. She heard the buzzing of the street lights, the barking of faraway dogs, the rise and fall of the thrum of car wheels as they passed on the main road a few blocks away.

"Every tower and every tree is beautiful." Kuno said reverently. "You are beautiful."

Ranma looked up at Kuno's face, surprised. He had a strong jaw, eyes that seemed to be looking far away at something… Ranma turned away, clenching her eyes shut. He was a moron. An overly controlling, full of himself, ass of a moron. So what if he liked poetry, so what if he had just called her beautiful. That was like calling the sky blue. Stating the obvious.

Ranma looked up at one of the yellow streetlamps. Two or three moths had found it and were dancing underneath. Ranma stopped, staring at them. Maybe it was good to state the obvious every now and then.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Kuno asked.

Kuno's concerned face looked dramatic, one side of it in nearly complete shadow.

Ranma made a low, almost yowling sound of frustration. Then she elbowed Kuno in the solar plexus.

The air was forced out of Kuno's lungs with an "Ooph!" and he doubled over.

Seizing the opportunity, Ranma dropped the doll to the ground, grabbed Kuno's head and planted a quick kiss on his lips, before she could convince herself not to do it. It was just a peck really. Their lips touched. It was over in less than a second.

Ranma picked up the doll from the sidewalk. She dusted it off absently. She was just getting the kiss over with. Like pulling off a bandaid. Now she wouldn't be worrying about it the rest of the way home.

Ranma could feel her heart beating fast in her chest.

She wondered: exactly how long after the kiss could she expect to stop worrying about it?

"May I ask…" Kuno gasped, "the reasons for your actions…" He took another labored breath, "my goddess?"

Kuno was still doubled over.

Ranma could kiss him again if she wanted.

She looked away. "I just wanted to get it over with. The kiss I mean. And…well I was just thinking, it was a good moment? But you're too damn tall."

"If I could but shrink myself I would, for you."

Ranma felt a wave of frustration. "Shut up!" Her heart was still racing. _What the heck is wrong with me?_ She closed her eyes. "Our date is over, okay? I've got to get back to help Akane make supper." She started walking down the sidewalk again, leaving Kuno behind.

By the time she reached the turn to get to the house, she was running. Her head was filled with half formed arguments and rationalizations. She turned the corner and jumped on to the roof of the first building. She started pacing frantically.

"It's just what Tasuke said. I'm a girl when I'm a girl. It doesn't mean anything! He just said something cool and I just… I mean it's not like I like him or anything. I just wanted to give him something back. It's not like I did it cause I thought he was... It was just a moment! Just…What the hell is wrong with me? I was just ready to kiss Akane wasn't I? Doesn't that mean I like girls? She wouldn't kiss me back though. Is it because I'm a girl or is it because I used to be a boy?" Ranma stopped pacing for a moment. Then she shook her head. "Doesn't matter. She doesn't want me like that, Kuno does. End of story."

Ranma was about to jump off the roof and head the rest of the way home when she realized what she just said. "What the hell is wrong with me? Kuno's a guy. Akane's a girl. How could I like both of them? I mean I don't like Kuno anyway so…"

Ranma slumped. She let out a breath and sat on the roof. She looked up at the sky, but she couldn't see the stars. She could only hear the buzz of street lights, the barking of dogs, the thrumming of vehicles. She took in a long breath through her nose, then she let it out and uttered a single word.

"Fuck."

The actual word Ranma uttered, of course, wasn't "fuck" but _kuso,_ and the widely accepted translation for that is "shit," but the English curse word for feces doesn't carry the same phonetic weight that _kuso_ does. _Kuso_ is usually pronounced with an almost silent 'u' so that it seems to have only one syllable beginning with a hard, percussive "k" sound. You don't so much say the word, as punch it in the face.

Ranma really wished she could punch someone in the face right now. Akane would make a nice target. She was just pouring the rice into the small pot of water, smiling a little crazily. Ranma had only just managed to convince her that the rice came out of the bag labeled "rice" and NOT the one labeled "Rat poison" She was beginning to suspect Akane might have some strange curse or mental block. Either that or she was doing it on purpose to screw with her.

And then there was Kasumi. Saintly Kasumi, watching over the meat and potatoes like they were her children. Was she done? Was manipulating a chiropractor into making Ranma feel like her flesh was peeling off enough for her or was she planning on driving her point home? Ranma and Akane had asked her the expected questions, but she played the innocent to the hilt. "Oh my!" she said, "I did put on perfume before I left today. Maybe Dr. Tofu is allergic!"

What the heck was Kasumi hiding? Why couldn't she talk straight about it? It irritated the crap out of Ranma. She just watched the two Tendo girls cook, glowering from behind them with her arms crossed. To think Ranma had thought they were so different at first. But they were just two sides of the same coin. Strange incomprehensible mixtures of violence and kindness. Akane wore her violence on the outside. Kasumi chose to show her kind side, but she was just as hard underneath.

Both of them were born girls. Their father called them things like princess and sweetheart. He didn't tell them to be more manly. He didn't taunt them by calling them girls. They weren't taken all over Japan and then into China specifically for a single purpose that depended on their manhood. They didn't have that taken away from them with a fall and a splash of water.

Genma. The curse was ultimately his fault. He deserved a punch in the face more than anybody.

Or Kuno. If he hadn't told Ranma he loved her…

Ranma let out a yowl of frustration.

"Are you okay, Ranma?" Akane asked "You sound like a pissed off alley cat."

Ranma grit her teeth as she stared at Akane, using all her willpower not to vent on the girl. "I need to go to the bathroom I think. Kasumi, are you okay with Akane?"

The older girl nodded hesitantly.

Ranma turned and plodded her way to the bathroom. Genma wasn't back yet. Nabiki had changed into a pair of white shorts and a striped long-sleeved shirt and was sitting at the table watching television. She said she had called somebody who would watch Kasumi during school. She also said it was probably useless to talk to Kasumi directly about it, which turned out to be true.

Ranma looked away. It was Nabiki's fault too. Getting her all confused between sex and the Art. Like not knowing what you were was a weakness. Well, Ranma knew what she was now and it didn't help her Art one bit!

Ranma clenched her fists. Trying to will herself to calm down, she opened the door to the bathroom, closed the lid on the toilet and sat on it. She hadn't bothered to turn the light on, but she could see her shadowy face reflected in the mirror. How many days was it? Four? She shook her head.

No. It had been months. Since that first day of the curse. She had been getting used to this body. Most of the time all through out China she had been a girl. She hated it, but even as she protested, she was acclimating, adapting. And then she went and gave herself a reason for it to be okay. All her protestations…they really amounted to nothing. She was a girl, and had been a girl since the moment she came out of the Jusenkyo pool.

Ranma swallowed, and took a few short, ragged breaths.

The sound of the knob on the door turning startled her. "Hey! I'm in the bathroom!"

Nabiki looked down the light coming into the room from behind her making her almost a silhouette. "Saotome, I know you grew up on the road, but really, you should know how to use the toilet by now. You lift up the lid. You pull your panties down. You crap in the water."

"Go away,"

Nabiki held the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "Look, I really have to piss, so go somewhere else to cry, okay?"

"I'm not crying!"

Nabiki grimaced and did a short "really need to pee" dance. "Let's make a deal. You get out right now, and go up to my room, and when I'm done here, I'll listen to your problems and pretend to care, sound good?"

Ranma found herself staring at Nabiki's eye patch, just barely visible. She looked away when she realized she was staring. She got up. "Alright. I'll get out of your way."

Nabiki flicked on the light as Ranma walked past her. In the wash of light, Nabiki's good eye was a golden brown. There was something odd about how it followed her out of the bathroom. And how Nabiki paused before closing the door, a serious expression on her face.

Ranma stared absently at the closed door for a moment, then went upstairs to Nabiki's room.

Nabiki's room had a lot of books in it. Math books, economics books, books on business, autobiographies of billionaires, books on strategy games, books on psychology, and a few books which seemed like fiction, but which, alongside the others, just had to be allegorical tales of some kind that explained the secret of getting what you want. Nabiki also had a few posters up. One had a diagram of chakras overlaid over a picture of a serenely meditating woman, another had a black and white picture of some woman with extremely short hair smoking a cigarette and some words in English on the bottom, and then there was a poster of an attractive girl wielding an electric guitar.

Ranma felt weird about entering the room without Nabiki there. She decided to sit on the corner of the bed to wait for her. It was made neatly and sitting on it seemed somehow less intrusive than sitting in the office chair next to the door near the desk. Ranma was still wearing her school uniform. She halfway wanted to tear it off, but she crossed her legs and tried to ignore it.

Nabiki entered after about a minute, looking oddly depressed.

"Who's the chick with the guitar?" Ranma asked, pointing to the poster.

"That's a man, Saotome."

"Oh." Some of Nabiki's behavior when she first met Ranma was becoming more clear now. If Ranma thought men could look like that, she might have had to squeeze some breasts herself.

"You never heard of Sparrow?" Nabiki asked. "What kind of music do you listen to?"

Ranma shook her head. "I don't really listen to music."

"You never ran into something you liked on the road?"

Ranma considered this. "There was a Chinese opera I saw when I was there. That was pretty cool."

"Opera?"

"Yeah. Those guys were pretty talented. They did all sorts of martial arts during the fight scenes and the singing was kinda pretty. A lot of it was special effects, but even that took skill. I wanted to learn from them, but we were on the run by that time and I had my curse, so I didn't get a chance. They wouldn't let a girl in their troupe."

Nabiki nodded. "I heard Jackie Chan got his start doing that. I guess it makes sense."

"Who's Jackie Chan?"

Nabiki thinned her lips and then sat in her office chair backwards, her legs straddling the back rest that she rested her arms on. "Why are you here, Ranma?"

Ranma swallowed. Nabiki had used her given name again. Why? "You told me to come up here."

Nabiki shook her head. "I told you that if you wanted me to pretend to care about your problems, you could tell them to me here. You're here, ergo, you have problems and for some reason you can't talk about them with Akane or your father. I hope you realize that letting me into the bathroom bought you a listener. If you want advice that's going to be extra."

Ranma stood up. "Yeah? And how the hell am I supposed to pay you, Nabiki? All my money goes into paying for this stupid uniform!"

Nabiki smiled. "That's right, I haven't talked to Amiko since Monday. I'll call her. You should be able to keep your tips at the restaurant after tomorrow. The uniform is already paid for. I had arranged it so your pay got converted into family credit."

"Akane and I earned that money, Nabiki. That was a crappy thing to do." Ranma wasn't really upset. Just annoyed. By now, she expected as much from the middle Tendo sister.

Nabiki shrugged. "I agree. So let's say we're even, and I'll see if I can help you with these problems you're having."

"I don't want your help. I shouldn't have come up here." Ranma moved toward the door.

"I'll pay you back your money, Ranma. Sit down." All trace of humor was gone from Nabiki's voice.

Curious, Ranma sat back down on the bed. "What is it with you?"

Nabiki took in a breath through her nose. "I told you. I want us to be allies instead of enemies. Better for both of us that way. Let's just say there's something your father has that I want, and you can help me convince him to give it to me and you at the same time. Problem is, if you decide to run away, or do something stupid like try to kill yourself," Nabiki raised her eyebrows pointedly, "then I get nothing." She leaned back. "Beyond that, well…seeing through Kasumi's housewifery…maybe you're not quite as much of a dumbass as I thought you were at first. And you're helping Akane deal with her shit." Nabiki shrugged. "Maybe you're alright."

Ranma found herself smiling a little at this. That was probably the highest praise she could expect from Nabiki. "I'm not going to kill myself," Ranma assured her. "I was just…frustrated is all."

"What about?"

Ranma looked at the pattern in Nabiki's bedspread. "Turns out I like guys."

"You learned this from Kuno?" Nabiki sounded incredulous.

"He was nice to me, okay? No one's ever treated me like that before. He gave me a stupid doll. I mean, come on! I'm a martial artist, but… you know… he was thinking about me. And if I were in his shoes I might have done the same thing. Girls are supposed to like things like that, right? And then he said a few things that actually made sense and…"

"You kissed him again, didn't you." Nabiki said smiling as she pointed a finger at Ranma's nose.

Ranma nodded.

Nabiki got up from her chair and sat down next to Ranma on the bed. "You want to put him on your whitelist?"

"What?" Ranma asked before she remembered about the FuMa rules. "Oh. No. Not yet."

"Not yet. So you might later?" Nabiki wagged her eyebrows.

Ranma found herself smiling again. She forced her mouth into a more serious expression "It's not that simple. I used to be a guy, Nabiki. I'm going to be a guy again. What am I going to do then? And what if I still like guys?"

"Those are all 'if's. From what you've said about the vial you drank, you might never be a guy again. And even if it wears off, you'll be like your Dad. He spends most the time as a panda. Stands to reason you'd spend most your time as a girl. It's probably a good thing you like guys."

"I like girls too though," Ranma said in a small voice.

"Ooh! You're bi? Kinky."

"Bi?"

"Bisexual. That's when you like both guys and girls. It makes a lot of sense that you'd be bi, actually. So, what…did you kiss Akane or something?"

Ranma winced a little.

"I've created a monster!" Nabiki laughed

"I didn't kiss her. I almost did though." Ranma felt herself blushing.

"Oh. She pulled out huh?"

Ranma nodded.

"That's my sister," Nabiki sighed, "I love her, but she is _such_ a prude!"

"She always thinks she knows what to do and she almost _never_ does. She's smart, but she's so stubborn!"

Nabiki nodded, but she wasn't smiling anymore.

"I told her it wouldn't matter if she was a guy, I'd still want to kiss her. That's what seemed to weird her out the most."

"Well, in my sister's defense, I think that would weird out almost anyone." Nabiki seemed oddly sad as she said this. "You hate her a little, now, don't you."

Ranma's eyes widened. She turned away. "A little. But then I hate everybody a little right now. Akane, Pops, Kasumi, you."

Nabiki smiled slightly. "If you ask me, you can't ever really care about anybody without hating them a little."

Ranma stared at the side of Nabiki's face, letting her words sink in. They made a strange sort of sense. If she didn't care about Akane so much, she wouldn't be so upset with her. Same with Genma. Ranma sighed, getting up. "What am I gonna do about Pops?"

"What about him?"

"He's always telling me how important it is for me to be a man among men. How do I tell him about this?"

Nabiki's unpatched eye went to the ceiling as she thought for a moment, then she returned her gaze to Ranma. "What would he do to you if you told him?"

"He could disown me. Say I'm not his son any more. Refuse to teach me anything."

"Oh." Nabiki said. She got up. She put her hands on Ranma's shoulders. "Then the answer's simple."

"Yeah?" Ranma felt a little uncomfortable having Nabiki touch her like that. And her face was too close.

"You lie to him." Nabiki said. Then she tilted her head and opened her mouth. Her head came closer…

Ranma jerked away, breaking free of Nabiki's hands.

Nabiki laughed brightly. "Sorry! Just had to see for myself. Yeah, you're bi alright. You opened your mouth a little there. You had to think about it before you backed off. Before, you were so repressed I couldn't tell what you were."

"This a hobby of yours then? Figuring out people's orientation?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Partly I suppose."

Ranma shook her head. "I can't lie to Pops. He's the only family I got. Besides, he knows me too well."

Nabiki looked down and raised a finger. "He _used_ to know you. You're a girl now. A teenager. You're pursuing relationships. Believe me, Daddy _raised_ me and he still doesn't know what planet I come from."

"You want me to be like Kasumi? To have three hearts?"

Nabiki's eye flashed with anger, but then she calmed. "Kasumi has a reason for acting the way she does, Saotome. Don't judge her too harshly." Nabiki sniffed, and her tone changed. "Speaking of Kasumi, it smells like supper's almost ready!" Nabiki walked out of her room and Ranma followed.

Ranma stopped just outside of the doorway though. "Nabiki?"

Nabiki stopped, her right hand holding the banister. "Yeah?"

"What's in Kasumi's third heart?"

Without turning around, Nabiki said, "It's the same as what's in Akane's heart… and mine."

"What's that?"

"The memory of our mother," Nabiki said the words quickly, and rushed off down the stairs.

~~~~~.~~~~~

Ranma blinked at the half-eaten food in front of her. She looked up, Kasumi and Nabiki were on the other side of the table. Akane sat next to her, beaming. Soun and Genma were also there. There was some rice in Ranma's mouth. It tasted about as good as one could expect rice to taste, which explained Akane's beaming.

Ranma chewed a bit and swallowed. Frowning.

"What's wrong?" Akane asked, her smile fading a little.

Ranma shook her head. "It's…nothing…just…" Ranma looked around again at everyone sitting down at the table. Looking down she saw she was sitting on her feet, the same way Akane was. That might have been because she was still in her school uniform. It made sense.

The problem was, Ranma didn't remember sitting like that.

Ranma smiled nervously at all the stares she was suddenly getting. "Good job, Akane!" She said, holding up her chopsticks.

"You don't have to sound so surprised," Akane said, but she was beaming again.

Ranma took a mouthful of rice with a little beef and ate some of it. Not bad at all. It was a shame she couldn't remember the first part of the meal. What happened? The last thing she remembered was coming down the steps and then…nothing. Everything seemed as normal as it could be under the circumstances. "Hey, um…have I been acting strange at all the last ten minutes or so?"

Everyone at the table looked at each other and then back at Ranma with various shrugging motions. "You've been acting more like a girl recently," Genma noted darkly, "but I assume that's Akane's influence."

Ranma felt a knot in her stomach at hearing that. She felt an odd urge to stand up and hit somebody, but she didn't know who or how that would help. Everyone seemed to think nothing was wrong. Maybe the black out was nothing. _Probably happens to everybody,_ Ranma reasoned, _like when you're running a long time and you forget how you got where you are._

"Maybe she's just finding out who she is." Nabiki ate a little and swallowed. "You know she didn't know who Sparrow was until about half an hour ago?"

"_I_ don't know this Sparrow character either," Soun pointed out.

"Of course you don't, Daddy. But he's a rock star. Everybody under the age of twenty-five knows about him!" Nabiki glanced at her older sister. "Well, almost everybody."

"Sayuri and Yuka wanted me to go with them to one of his concerts a couple of months ago," Akane moved her food around on her plate idly. "They said there'd be a lot of boys there, so I told them no."

Genma swallowed some tea and set his cup down. "So you think Ranma should listen to this Sparrow person so she can grow up like other girls?" Genma postured dramatically "My little princess, blossoming into a woman!"

"Shut up, Pops!" Ranma snapped, "I ain't blossoming into nothing!"

"It has nothing to do with being a girl," Nabiki said, "a lot of guys like Sparrow too. The point is Ranma doesn't even know if she likes him or not. She's like a baby bird thrust into the world, squinting against the light of the morning sun. She needs to spread her wings and fly." Nabiki held her hands clasped to her chest as she said the words almost matching Genma for over the top dramatics.

Desperately wanting to change the subject, Ranma asked abruptly. "So, Kasumi, I hear you had a curse once? What was that like?"

Everyone stopped eating and looked between Ranma and Kasumi. Kasumi slowly put her chopsticks down and wiped at her mouth with her napkin. "Nice of you to ask, Ranma-chan!" Somehow Ranma got the feeling Kasumi meant the opposite of that, even though she said it brightly enough and with a smile. "Have you ever gotten cut or pricked by something sharp?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Plenty times."

"It was like that, but all over my body. It was a very distressing time for me. Thankfully Dr. Tofu was able to find a cure."

"We couldn't even hug her," Akane said with a shudder, "she had these sharp metal things sticking out of her body, and she was always bleeding."

Ranma's eyes were wide. That made Jusenkyo seem like a walk in the park! "How did you get a curse like that?"

"Who knows?" Kasumi said, and she stood up. "Would anybody like some more tea?"

~~~~~.~~~~~

Ranma, Genma, Akane and Nabiki sat in a loose square on the tatami floor of the dojo. Ranma remembered how she got here this time, but she felt a little strange for some reason. She was wearing her altered Chinese clothes and everyone else was in their training clothes. Her feeling of strangeness didn't seem to have anything to do with her clothing, but it was something about the dojo. Some vibe that she hadn't noticed before. Like a high pitched noise that's only noticeable during a dead quiet. Only this wasn't a noise, but a sort of twinge she couldn't quite shake.

"So? What did Tofu say?" Nabiki asked after they had all been sitting for a minute or so.

Genma pushed up his glasses. "I was in a hurry to get back, so I didn't have time to get the whole story."

"You didn't want to miss supper, you mean," Ranma clarified.

Genma gave her a dark look. "Right you are, _sweetheart_. What he did tell me was it was some form of hypnotic trigger and not merely an allergy. He's been trying to find a way to break the hypnosis, but even thinking about Kasumi causes him to lose focus. I'm going to help him with this tomorrow. He also said that Ranma should visit him as soon as possible so he can do some tests."

"Well, I'm working and going to school all weekend. The earliest I could see him would be Tuesday." Ranma moved so that instead of sitting cross-legged she was balancing on the balls of her feet.

"Not if you miss class," Akane pointed out, "It's only a half day Saturday, I can cover for you no problem."

Ranma frowned. The actual classes she couldn't care less about of course, but missing class meant not being around Akane. Or Sayuri and Yuka for that matter, who Ranma was starting to think of as pleasantly annoying instead of merely just annoying. Still, if it was important... "Yeah, okay. Saturday morning I'll pay Tofu a visit. So what are we doing about Kasumi? I know she's hiding something."

"No kidding." Nabiki crossed her arms. "We have her on the ropes now, but you have to understand, my older sister is THE master of deflection. Getting angry at her doesn't work. I've tried that. She just gets more and more sweet until you do something bad enough to get in trouble for, and then she's won."

"We're not going to try yelling at her, Nabiki, honestly!" Akane huffed.

Everyone gave her a long look. Then Nabiki continued. "That's not all, though. She's extremely indirect, but if we're getting close to something she doesn't want to talk about, she'll find a way to distract us. She'll bring up something that seems more important and we'll go chasing after that. We have to remain focused. Keep asking her questions. There was one time, _one _time she was even close to straight with me, and that was when we were dead broke and about to lose the house."

"So it was a Tuesday, then?" Akane scoffed sarcastically. Turning to Ranma she explained, "Like I told you earlier, we've always had problems keeping this place."

"This _particular_ time would have been when you were about ten." Nabiki continued, "Kasumi was thirteen so she could get this job as an assistant I found in the newspaper and I couldn't because I was eleven. I kept needling her about it. I'd already forged Daddy's consent form and everything. She wasn't interested. Then one day she points to this suitcase full of cash she 'found' outside the house."

"A suitcase full of cash?" Genma clarified.

Nabiki nodded. "She was very blasé about it. You know, just like she is about everything. But I kept asking her how she got the suitcase and wondering out loud where it might have come from, and whether we should report it to the police and what not. Finally she snapped at me and told me, and I quote, 'stop asking questions, and just take the fucking money!'"

Ranma nodded slowly. "She was really upset at the hospital. If I hadn't seen her then I probably wouldn't believe you."

Akane shook her head. "Kasumi doesn't talk like that. I'm sure you're exaggerating." Ranma hit the back of Akane's head lightly with her open hand. "Hey!"

"You're doing it again," Ranma warned her.

"I am not! I don't care how angry or vindictive Kasumi is, she would never use that kind of language!"

"Not even when she was thirteen?" Ranma asked.

Akane paused for a moment, then let out a breath in defeat. "Maybe when she was thirteen."

Genma cleared his throat. "I'm not the best with math, but isn't that around the same time Kasumi renounced the school and got her curse? That was five years ago wasn't it?"

"The business with the suitcase happened six years ago," Nabiki corrected. "and let me tell you, it isn't all that easy to transfer cash into checks. I ended up having to ask Grandmother Shiratori for help again. But…now that you mention it…You know Kasumi actually started to feel pains that December? She kept excusing herself all the time. It just wasn't until February that things got so bad she couldn't hide it anymore."

"And then Dr. Tofu cures her, but ends up hypnotized so he goes crazy and hurts people she wants hurt whenever she shows up." Ranma rubbed her chin. "Yeah, you know I bet all this came from her trying to hide something from you guys. From her own family. Why would she want to do that? I mean that's like the lowest of the low, lying to your own flesh and blood."

Genma got up. "She's trying to protect them from something, Ranma. That's a noble thing, no matter how foolish."

Ranma shook her head. "Look Pops, we've had our differences, and you've not exactly been Dad of the year all the time, but the one thing we have is that we're honest with each other. We tell each other what we think all the time, even if it isn't pretty." Ranma shrugged. "I mean, I think that's what having a family is about. Having people you can be honest with."

Nabiki stood as well. "Ranma honey? Take it from somebody who's dealt with more family members in her day, having a family is more like learning to tolerate people you're related to, secrets and all, until you feel like you can't function without them."

Ranma stood up just to stop Genma and Nabiki from looking down at her. She forgot that she was still shorter than them though. "You got your definition, I got mine."

"Hey, guys, could we get back to figuring out what to do about Kasumi?" Akane was still sitting down, a worried look on her face.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Ranma asked.

Akane turned to Nabiki as she spoke with winged words. "She needs to know that we love her, regardless of what she's hiding, and that she doesn't need to protect us from it anymore. She needs to know that she can trust us, and setting up surveillance and conducting secret meetings about her behind her back doesn't really help with that." Akane got to her feet and this time she included Ranma and Genma in her glare. "You want her to be honest with us? How about we start being honest with her?"

Nabiki grimaced as if she had just eaten something bitter. "Ranma," she said, "why don't you go be honest with Kasumi, like Akane says. Akane, I think you should stay away from confronting her. Just give her support like you're saying. I'm going to keep working on plan B. Sensei, you're going to help Tofu, right?"

Genma nodded.

"Alright then. Meeting adjourned!"

Ranma could tell she really wanted to hit something with a gavel.

Kasumi was washing dishes in the sink when Ranma entered the kitchen, so Ranma quietly stood beside her, took a dish towel and started drying. Kasumi tensed noticeably when Ranma started, but then she relaxed. "Thank you, Ranma-chan," she said warmly. It was only because Ranma was looking that she could tell the thanks wasn't entirely genuine.

"You're welcome, Kasumi," Ranma said. "And I'm sorry… for stabbing you in the knee with those thumbtacks."

Kasumi just kept washing, saying nothing.

"I know you don't want me and Pops here. I know the hot water was never broken, that you just turned it off. I know that you put tacks in my bed and you distracted Pops so that Akane would get a shot in." Ranma put the dish she just dried on the dish stand next to the sink and started on the next dish. "Maybe the perfume has something to do with Tofu going crazy, but I know that's not the whole story. We all do. Me Pops, Nabiki and Akane."

Kasumi paused when she heard Akane's name. She started washing again, but more slowly.

"We think you've been hiding something from your family for a long time now, and that's why you're doing these things. Akane said we should be honest with you, so you might feel better about being honest with us."

Kasumi put her dish down in the sink. "We…us…" She turned the faucet off. "You are NOT part of this family!"

Ranma backed up, startled at Kasumi's sudden intensity. "I know that. I'm just sayin'…"

Kasumi's eyes were still wide with her barely controlled anger, but her mouth relaxed into a neutral expression. She moved past Ranma and opened a cabinet. She rummaged through some papers stored on one of the upper shelves.

"I'm tryin' to help here okay? Maybe you don't think it's right for Nabiki and Akane to be violent but..."

"You are not helping," Kasumi said with forced calm as she continued to rifle through the papers. "You're exploring a dark cave with a lit stick of dynamite. You don't even know what you're playing with." She found what she wanted and brought it to the counter. She smoothed it out under the light. It was a list of names and telephone numbers. Ranma's eyes caught on entry in particular: Genma and Nodoka Saotome.

"Your mother was friends with my mother. Did you know that?" Kasumi turned on the faucet and resumed washing dishes. "'Auntie Saotome' we called her. She stopped visiting after you were born though, and after Mom died, we never heard from her again. Not even a phone call. The last time I saw her was at the funeral. You weren't there. Neither was your father, and Father could have really used a friend that day. It was just her, and she cried as much as any of us. I thought of calling her every now and then afterwards. But she isn't _my_ mother." Kasumi finished her last dish and turned the water off. "I don't even know if the number is still good, but the phone is next to the staircase if you want to find out."

Ranma picked up the paper with her mother's number on it and swallowed. It didn't seem real. It made sense that Kasumi would have known her mother before she died, but she was talking as if… "She's still alive?"

Kasumi smiled with genuine amusement. Perhaps the first real smile Ranma saw her make. "Who knows?" She moved over to the other side of the sink and began drying the dishes where Ranma left off.

In a daze, Ranma walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway, barely taking her eyes off of her mother's name. She picked up the black receiver and heard the dial tone. It was late, she though. Almost nine o'clock. Maybe she should wait. But she had to know. She put her finger in the first hole of the rotary phone, spun and released. The dial spun back like the unrelenting machinery of a torture device. Ranma spun the other numbers more quickly, trying not think about it too much. When she came to the last number she was almost surprised. And then she heard the ringing. One ring. Two rings. Three. Maybe she was asleep. Maybe it was someone else's number now.

In the middle of the fourth ring a mature soprano answered. "Hello? This is Saotome Nodoka speaking, may I ask who is calling?"

Ranma's heart slammed against her ribcage like it was trying to escape. She sucked in a breath. "Mom?"

"I'm afraid you have the wrong number. I have a so-"

Ranma hung up before her mother finished the word. She turned around, resting her back against the wall next to the phone, and sank down to the floor. Somewhere out there, she had a mother. A living mother. And her father had been lying to her about it for most of her life.

Some time from now, Ranma would get up and do something about this new information, but until she figured out what that might be, she would sit right here on the floor, staring at nothing.

~~~~~end of chapter 9~~~~~

Author's Notes:

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and special thanks to Kinrinrin for some valuable feedback on the last chapter.

I'm sorry if anyone has a problem with Ranma being bisexual, or a girl, or fallible, I know that's not everybody's thing, it's just how things seemed to play out. Some people also might have particular problems with the Kuno relationship. Or with Ranma kissing him again or something along those lines. Actually, is anyone still reading this? Hello?

Anyway, it seemed like what Ranma would do in the situation she was in to me, and I hope you are enjoying the aftermath as much as I am.

A small nitpicky point that I might as well address. Kasumi is quoted as using the infamous "fuck" word and earlier there was a whole paragraph about what Ranma was really saying when she said it. Kasumi wasn't using fuck either, of course, but in Kasumi's case she wasn't using kuso either. She was speaking in a very coarse dialect that someone on the street might use. Similar to some extent to what Ranma uses. I couldn't tell you all the words that would be different in what Kasumi would use, or how to explain the differences without boring everybody or at the very least breaking up the flow of the story. Basically, while there are exceptions, English has curse words, while Japanese has curse _grammar_ and that's a little difficult to translate. Also the profanity level of what Kasumi said would probably be closer to "damn" in English, but I wanted to show a definite shift in the way she spoke and damn didn't seem to quite cut it.

I'd love to hear if anybody has a better way of conveying this or has any other thoughts on anything in this chapter. Reviews of any kind are always appreciated.


	10. Wrath

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Ch.10: Wrath

In this chapter we are introduced to Ryoga. Also: Ranma and Kasumi fight.

Disclaimer: see the previous nine disclaimers

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

Ranma heard Nabiki yelling after her as she left. It was around four in the morning. With the artificial light of the city hitting the clouds, she could almost believe it was near dawn, though the sun was a good two hours away. For the last couple of days Ranma had to drag Nabiki out of bed to get her to start training. For her to be up at this hour was probably a minor miracle.

Still, Ranma kept walking. She left the front yard and turned onto the sidewalk. She didn't know where she was going yet, but she would find a telephone book somewhere eventually. Right now she just wanted to get away. She carried all of her belongings on her back. She wore her altered Chinese outfit. She left her uniform behind. She was going to find her mother.

Ranma heard Nabiki running after her. She didn't have the energy to run away, and that seemed a bit cowardly, so she stopped and turned around slowly to meet the middle Tendo daughter. Nabiki looked a bit threadbare, in her pajamas with her hair messed up and a circle under her good eye.

"I told you," Nabiki panted, "not to do anything," she panted again, "stupid!"

"There's no reason for me to be here, Tendo," Ranma said.

"Your Dad" Nabiki gasped. She swallowed "Akane."

"As far as I'm concerned, that man is not my father. And as for Akane, well, maybe someday when she's less of a bitch, we can be friends. But not now."

Last night after finding out about her mother, she couldn't handle the idea of sleeping with her father. But when she told Akane what happened, she just got angry. "Ooh, you have a mother. Well boo fucking hoo!" she screamed and slammed her door in Ranma's face. Not sure what else to do, Ranma asked Nabiki if she could sleep on the floor of her room, and Nabiki agreed. Ranma hadn't slept though. She had just stared at the ceiling, listening to Nabiki breathe, until she had had enough and just left. She had thought she left stealthily enough, but apparently she was wrong.

"Don't you get it? This is exactly what Kasumi wants!" Nabiki gestured with both of her hands moving out from her temples.

"Yeah?" Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Well, if she wants it, she gets it. I'm outta here." She turned away.

"What are you going to do, Ranma? Where are you going to live?"

"I'm going to live with my Mom, if she'll take me. If not, I'll just live on the road, like I've been doing most my life." Ranma shrugged. "You didn't want me here anyway, so stop pretending you care."

"Gods damn it, Ranma, I'm not pretending anymore! I thought we went through this already!"

Ranma looked away, "Yeah. Well it ain't enough."

"How did you find out about your mom, anyway?" Nabiki hadn't asked about it last night. She had simply opened her door, gestured to the floor threw a pillow down next to the bed, and told Ranma that she better not snore or anything or she'd kill her.

Ranma thinned her eyes. "You knew? You knew my mom was alive?"

Nabiki held the bridge of her nose with her hand. "Give me a break." she groaned. "It's too early for you to be this observant."

Ranma threw up her hands in disgust. "All you Tendos. It's just one secret after another isn't it? Even Akane who's so into honesty. She won't tell me what her deal is. She just snaps at me and expects me to figure it out. Well, I'm sick of it. I ain't getting anything out of it anymore. The bus stops here, and I'm gettin' on it."

"The bus stop is actually a couple blocks down," Nabiki noted.

"Shut up! It's just a hot water thing! A metaphor, I mean."

"Look, I overheard your dad talking about your mom a while back. That's how I knew." Nabiki's voice was calm but tired. She seemed frustrated at something herself.

"He ain't my dad! "

Nabiki held up a hand in a calming motion. "He had a reason for not telling you. I can't tell you what that is, because I told him I wouldn't, but he was trying to protect you. Now, I'm guessing you don't have any idea what he would be protecting you against. I only know a little bit more than you, but what I can say is that you are running blindly into a situation your _father_ thought was too dangerous for _you_ to handle."

Ranma had to admit Nabiki had a point. This was the guy who thought it would be a good idea to drop her in a pit of ravenous cats, and he thought seeing her mother was a bad idea? But how bad could it possibly be? The woman seemed nice enough on the phone.

"As for Akane, you have to understand that mothers are something of a sore spot for all of us. Akane hardly remembers our mother at all, but in some ways she misses her the most out of all of us. And then you pop up and say your mother is alive after all…"

"You were listening to our conversation."

Nabiki rolled her visible eye. "Akane was yelling at you so loud the neighbors probably heard her. I'm in the next room over and I have a pretty good imagination. Sue me."

"I'd probably lose," Ranma grumbled.

"Probably," Nabiki agreed with a smirk.

Ranma sighed and looked down the road. Her mother was out there somewhere, waiting for her.

"Look, why don't you think on it for awhile? Give it a week. Maybe, oh I don't know, ask your Dad about your mom so you know what's up. Then if you still want to leave, leave, but I think this is just things getting worse before they get better." Nabiki put a hand on Ranma's shoulder.

Ranma looked at the hand, confused.

Nabiki removed the hand. She looked away. Ranma turned, but Nabiki put a fist in front of her face and coughed. "Ahem. Well, I think if I go inside now I might be able to get a half hour of sleep before Sensei wakes us all up. You do what you want. I'll see you when I see you." With that, Nabiki turned and walked stiffly back to the house.

Ranma looked down the road for a minute or so.

A wet, chilly breeze blew past.

A dog barked from far away.

She found herself turning and walking back to the house. She didn't know what Nabiki's game was. Or Kasumi's or Akane's or anyone's for that matter. Maybe giving it a week was good advice. Maybe by then she could make some sense of things.

At least that was better than wandering around, alone.

~~~~Ryoga~~~~

A single track of footsteps in the sand led away from the shore where, in the distance, the waters of the Pacific sparkled. The tracks ended at the feet of a determined figure cloaked in a burlap cowl and a pair of cracked greenly tinted goggles. The heat of the midday sun beat down upon him. He looked straight ahead, never allowing his trajectory to alter. So intent was the youth on his target, that an observer might wonder if he actually knew where exactly he was going…

The young man's name was Hibiki Ryoga, and he would have laughed to hear this doubt expressed. He knew precisely where he was going. His destination was etched into his retinas, burned into his brain. He would find that coward Ranma. He would find him and he would make that bastard pay. To think that Ranma would run away to China, skipping out on a man to man fight. Intolerable!

Ryoga's mother hadn't understood. "Don't leave!" she implored him, tears in her eyes as she stood in the doorway, "I might not ever see you again if you go after him!" At first she had refused to tell him where Ranma was going, but Ryoga told her if she didn't tell him, he would just have to hit the road, asking anyone he came across where the black-haired ponytailed martial artist named after a wild stallion was sleeping. He would ask until someone told him even if it took the rest of his life. His mother had finally caved after this, and told him where Ryoga was going. Still, she begged him one last time not to go. He kissed her on the cheek and hugged her, giving his good bye.

Before he left though, Ryoga's mother made sure he packed the ribbon, pins and ball from her rhythmic gymnastics equipment. He agreed, even though it was embarrassing. Rythmic Gymnastics was the first martial art he had ever learned, and though other boys had made fun of him for it, it had helped him later when he studied other disciplines. The equipment made his pack heavier. But Ryoga was used to the weight even then. And now the weight was a comfort. Without his pack, and now without the iron and bamboo umbrella he had made in China, he felt naked, vulnerable. He would never allow anybody to make him feel that way again. He would make sure Ranma paid for what he did.

Ryoga continued to trudge through the hot sands toward his goal. The sand grabbed at his feet like the hands of burning imps, but Ryoga paid it no mind. He was too tough to be bested by mere topology.

His father had taught him how to be tough. Just when the kids were starting to really get in the spirit of bulling him, his father showed up, finally finding his way home after years of being lost. Gymnastics allowed Ryoga to run away, and if he found someone and showed them his home address they could usually lead him to his home. But his father had taught him to stand up for himself. His father taught him to truly fight. He had Ryoga stand in a horse stance, knees bent, feet a little wider than shoulder width and pointed forward, his hands in fists at his waist, for hours. He had Ryoga practice punching by having him hit a tree in their backyard. Ryoga's fists bled. He cried. But he kept punching the rough bark of the tree until his fists no longer hurt. Until each punch made a gouge in the wood.

Ryoga's father taught him to block an attack and to deal one out. The last bully that tried to fight him had met a very painful end, involving a bleeding nose and several cracked ribs. Ryoga had been twelve. He no longer had to worry about anybody else. He could live his life in peace.

And then Ranma showed up. Ranma, who claimed to be the best martial artist around without batting an eyelid. Ranma, who always seemed to get the last piece of bread at lunchtime even though Ryoga should have gotten it by all rights. Ranma, who seemed to just be breezing through life without a care in the world. It wasn't fair. Ryoga was tougher than he was. And yet Ranma just assumed he was better.

It was not fair. That challenge was supposed to prove for once and for all that Ryoga was the best. That Ranma was just a boaster, a know-nothing full of bravado and a certain amount of luck. Ryoga could get whatever he wanted by himself without anybody else. He was the strongest and he could beat anyone.

Except Ranma had hightailed it out of there as soon as Ryoga issued a challenge! Only three days after the posted time!

Ryoga blinked as he came to a rocky cliff overlooking a small village. Had he made it? Was this Nerima? He didn't see any tall buildings or large throngs of people bustling through the streets, but maybe Nerima was a more provincial area of Tokyo."This doesn't look like the place," he murmured to himself, "but there's only one way to find out!" He threw off his cloak and goggles, opened his iron umbrella and jumped down toward the town.

It should be noted at this point that such a maneuver is sure to end in death in almost all circumstances. Parachutes are as big as they are for a reason, and that reason is that humans, being rather heavy in comparison to say, cats, need a lot of surface area to slow them down enough so that they don't get crushed when they say hello to their old friend, the ground. Not to mention that most umbrellas have the resilience of tin foil and won't survive a stiff breeze much less the rushing winds from a fall from several hundred meters up. Ryoga however, had a very strong umbrella, he had very strong bones and muscles, and he had a very high pain threshold. So when he inevitably crashed into the bushes below and his feet felt the jarring sensation of the earth coming to meet them at about 150 kilometers per hour, he found the experience only mildly uncomfortable.

Had the villagers seen this stunt, they might not have been quite as surprised as they were when, after plowing through houses and places of business all down the main street of the village, a gigantic wild boar about the size of a pickup truck slammed into the tip of Ryoga's umbrella and completely failed to move him even a centimeter from his position. Even considering Ryoga's great strength, this would have been impossible if Ryoga didn't also have a firm control of his ki.

Ryoga felt the energy of the earth locking his feet onto its surface and the giant boar may as well have been a flea attempting to push down a skyscraper. In fact the real mystery was why the creature didn't currently have the tip of the umbrella sticking through its nostril and tickling its cerebellum. Ryoga suspected it must not be an ordinary pig. But then, if a pig that large _were_ ordinary, that would be pretty strange.

Ryoga frowned at this logic for a moment, and then decided to dispatch the animal as quickly and humanely as possible. He removed the tip of his umbrella from the boar's snout and, using the momentum of the creature as it lunged toward him, he lifted it and threw it high into the air with a yowlp of power. Not needing to see the aftermath to know that his business with the boar was concluded, Ryoga stuck his umbrella back on the top of his pack, feeling a rare moment of satisfaction.

This feeling was rather dashed when one of the villagers informed him that he was in Shikoku. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with Shikoku normally. It was a fine island. A lot of pretty, mountainous regions. Not too crowded. The problem was that Furinkan High School was in the Nerima prefecture of Tokyo and Tokyo was on the island of Honshu, the main island of Japan.

Ryoga soon found himself on another cliff staring out over the waters of the Pacific that separated him from his goal. Signs on the cliff advised "You aren't the only one who has it rough!" and "Don't be hasty! Think it over!"

But Ryoga didn't care what any stupid signs had to say. He had to find Ranma and make him suffer. "This is a battle of honor between men! I won't let you hide from me any longer! Just you wait, Ranma!"

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

It was Friday night and Yui's Yakitori was packed. Ranma was taking care of the front, calling out names and taking people to their tables, while Kaori and Akane were doing the proper waitressing. When it got busy like this, the place operated like a much higher end restaurant, simply out of necessity. You can't have people just laying claim to tables if there's a line of them waiting to get a seat. And because problems tended to arise in the front, that's where Ranma was, smiling at them and being generally pleasant unless they started to get belligerent. If they got belligerent, Ranma didn't waste time. She just picked them up and threw them out of the restaurant, while everyone looked at her wide-eyed in astonishment.

Ranma had to use her ki to do that, but it wasn't like she was going to have a knockdown, drag out fight with anybody. The customers of Yui Yakitori were all lightweights. A smattering of them were martial artists, but nothing that would give Ranma or even Akane a problem. So Ranma went ahead and used the spiritual energy. It didn't take that much anyway, and if anything she felt like if she didn't let some it go she would burst.

It was all the tension, she figured. Ranma had to keep herself from screaming at her father during training that morning. She just did whatever he said without saying anything. She had decided to confront him like Nabiki suggested, but she had to get the words right in her head.

Akane had apologized about yelling at her in one of the lulls during training. She had just been upset and she didn't mean it and blah blah blah. Ranma just said something like "Fine," and started a high energy kata to keep her from trying to talk any more.

Breakfast had been almost physically painful. Genma had known something was up and asked Ranma what it was several times. Akane kept trying to be friendly. Nabiki kept watching Ranma so closely it was creepy. Kasumi was just smiling like usual with no trace of the girl Ranma had talked to the night before. Soun was the only person at the table Ranma didn't have a problem with, except that he didn't seem to have any idea of what was going on, and that pissed Ranma off.

All day at school, Ranma avoided Akane. She avoided everybody really. During lunch, she went outside, jumped into a tree and ate there, watching through the leaves and the windows of the classroom as Akane looked worried while Sayuri and Yuka talked at her.

After lunch, Kuno came up to her a few times, but Ranma referred to the FuMa armband she wore around her arm and, if that didn't work, she referred him to the bottom of her shoe. She wouldn't report him to Nabiki. If she was honest, she kind of liked the distraction, but she wasn't ready for a boyfriend either. The word still filled her with the willies, and she had enough to deal with.

Now she was at work, she was busy, and she was finally beginning to relax a little bit. She could do this job without even thinking about it, and she was good at it. It was nice to have that at least.

A table for four opened up and Ranma looked at the list. The Takeuchi party was up next. They were three geeky looking high school seniors from another school. Ranma smiled at them just like everybody else, secretly hoping that one of them would be drunk or have an insanity problem. One of them was rather fat, and Ranma was glad they were going to a table and not a booth. She had seen the look of anguish in the eyes of the last fat person she had led to a booth and it was something that would haunt her dreams. The three guys all had t-shirts on with cartoon characters on the front. Most of these consisted of robots and attractive looking women in vaguely violent poses. Ranma had read a few manga, and had caught snippets of some anime, but she had never really gotten into either. She rarely had enough money to buy them and she never really had any friends to borrow any from, moving around as often as she did.

Akane was walking by, so Ranma took the opportunity to introduce her to them. "This is Akane, she'll be your waitress, that cool?"

The three of them were staring at Ranma and Akane, their mouths open.

"What wrong?" Ranma asked.

"Daate Pea!" The thin one with glasses exclaimed pointing at Ranma and Akane.

Ranma blinked and looked at Akane, who looked embarrassed, turning back to the guy, Ranma shook her head. "Sorry. I don't know what that is."

The third member of the group who had an unfortunate amount of acne spoke for his friend. "You and Akane look a lot like characters from an anime called Dirty Pair."

The thin guy with glasses nodded. "Yeah! If you were a bit more tan and didn't have that pigtail you'd look just like Kei, and she already is the spitting image of Yuri!"

"I am NOT YURI!" Akane screamed.

Ranma didn't have time to react. In a fraction of a second Akane had the table in her hands, and in another it was raised over her head, utensils, condiments and napkins falling to the floor. "Akane, what's your problem? Put the table down!"

Akane's face was red, her eyes wide.

"Wow! You really _are _like Dirty Pair aren't you?" The guy in glasses said.

Acne man put a hand up, "He wasn't calling you a lesbian. The girl's name in the manga is actually Yuri. You do look a lot like her."

Akane slowly lowered the table and set it on the floor.

Ranma was confused. What did being named Yuri have to do with being a lesbian? She shook her head. "Uh sorry 'bout that. Look, I'll take 500 yen off the price of each your meals okay?" It was a hassle, but Ranma was getting a percentage of all the tips tonight because she was working the front, and she would actually be able to see the money because Nabiki had talked with Amiko and Ryu about it. She would just put a note on the receipt and put 1500 yen in the register.

Akane glared at Ranma.

Ranma glared right back.

The fat one cleared his throat. "You don't need to do that. None of us are upset. Please just serve us as you would normally." He smiled and bowed. The guy with glasses was already picking the things that fell on the floor and putting them on the table.

Ranma smiled back. She always felt better when people were pleasant. "If you're sure about that…Let me get you new silverware at least." Ranma did as she said and replaced their utensils. Akane was apologizing when Ranma got back and the otaku were waving her off and saying it was alright.

When they had both left the table, Ranma hit Akane lightly on the back of her head. "Moron."

"Hey! Stop it, Ranma! I'm not your little brother you can just hit whenever you want. I'm a girl and so are you."

Ranma led walk toward the restroom and Akane seemed to be taking the hint so she responded. "Could have fooled me. Keep acting like that and people will think you were the one who used to be a boy." Ranma pushed through the door to the restroom and turned fully toward Akane as she entered as well. "You want me to treat you like a porcelain doll or something? After you scared everybody in the restaurant spitless? This shit has got to stop."

"He called me a lesbian! He was being a jerk!"

Ranma hit Akane on the back of the head again. "Stop it. I was there. He was a nice guy, Akane, and you only _thought_ he called you a lesbian." Ranma crossed her arms. "Besides, so what if he did?"

"I'm _sick _of people saying-"

"Knock it off!" Ranma snapped. "You don't even know what you are. For all you know, you _are_ a lesbian. You're just too scared to find out." Akane just scowled in silence, so Ranma continued, closing her eyes. "I'm a bicycle."

Akane burst into laughter.

"What? This is serious, Akane! I found out last night I like guys and girls. That makes me a bicycle. You might be a bicycle too!"

Akane laughed again, but she managed to make her face somewhat more serious after a few seconds. "It's bisexual, Ranma. Two sexualities. A bi _cycle_ has two wheels."

"Oh," Ranma said, a bit embarrassed, but then she smiled. "I guess that makes me twice as sexy as other people, huh?"

Akane rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Are we done here?"

Ranma frowned. "I was really upset last night, Akane. I could have used a friend."

"Look, I told you I was sorry! I just…If I could talk to my mom again, even just say hello to her and know she heard me…"

Ranma held a hand up. "I get that, Akane. But it don't hurt any less. I can't keep trying to navigate minefields every time I want to talk to you."

Akane looked down, not saying anything.

"You know when I first got this curse, I used to beat up anybody who called me a girl? I was still sensitive about it when I came here. But look at me. That's what I am right now, isn't it? I'm a girl. And it's not like I can do anything about it. At least not for five months and three weeks. I probably can't do anything about being a bicyc…bisexual either. I just gotta deal with it. Otherwise I'm just going to keep running into walls."

"When you hit a wall, you keep hitting it until you find a way over it or through it." Akane's sad tone did not match the words at all.

Ranma grimaced. It sounded like something Genma might have said. "Yeah? Well maybe you ought to figure out what's on the other side of it first." She opened the door to the bathroom and left Akane inside, feeling a little over dramatic. But she still had a job to do after all. Ryu wasn't paying her to jibber jabber.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga ran through the metal guard rail like it was tissue paper. The sudden decline of the ravine sped him up, but the tree branches that whipped at him on the way down slowed him, so it all evened out. Stupid guard rail. Why would they put it right in the way like that? Ryoga tripped over a nettle bush, the thorns cutting into his skin. He grimaced against the pain, got up and kept running only to trip over another nettle bush. Ryoga let out a growl of irritation.

Pain. That's what his life was. And it was all Ranma's fault. Here he was, running through the hinterlands of Hokkaido, getting attacked by brambles and bushes as he tried to find his way back to Honshu. How could he have known that the barge he took from Shikoku wasn't going to Tokyo?. There were toys in the boxes that said "Tokyo" in roman characters weren't there? How were the toys going to make it to Tokyo if they were sent to Hokkaido?

Ryoga kept running through the woods, going as straight as possible. He powered through a half meter wide dead tree that was in his way, breaking it into large splinters like it was a cheap chopstick. He had to get to Ranma before he moved again. Before he lost track of him again.

China had been rough. He had been hot on Ranma's tail all the way up until Jusenkyo and then everything just fell apart. Turning into a tiny pig was bad enough. He'd been helpless when that homicidal panda carried him into the Jusenkyo guide's hut. He hadn't met the guide, he had no idea why he was a pig or whether the curse was permanent or not. At that moment, he thought he was going to die, and he almost did anyway. That pot of boiling water that the guide threw him in made him human again, but boiling water doesn't react that well to skin whether it's a pigs or a human's. After the initial adrenaline wore off, Ryoga could barely move without finding himself in excruciating misery from the blisters all over his body.

It took him three days to recover enough to go after Ranma again. The Guide's wife and daughter tended to him, and Ryoga made sure to thank them for their kindness, but everything was a pink blur of pain, even as he waved them goodbye. It had been raining, so they had given him a bamboo umbrella, and it had saved him from an infinity of embarrassing and dangerous circumstances. After it broke during a tousle with some highwaymen, Ryoga went about finding a replacement. Umbrellas were in short supply at the villages he found himself in, but he had found a blacksmith, and with a little ingenuity and the blacksmith's help, he was able to make an umbrella that would last a little longer than the bamboo one.

But Ranma continued to elude him. Ryoga would finally find someone that had heard his rival's name, but when he looked further, it would turn out to be some redheaded girl instead. Or there'd be some altercation caused by an unruly purple headed Amazon that would make everybody nervous all of a sudden. One time, Ryoga's pursuit took him to a village overrun with Griffins. Not like the stories at all, they were really nasty things, but even after he had managed to get rid of each one of them, the villagers conveniently had no idea where Saotome Ranma was. Obviously Ranma had sent the things to the village as a distraction. He'd probably set that boar loose in that Shikoku town too. How dare he mock his curse like that! Only…he couldn't have found out about his curse…Still it was painful to be reminded of it! He would pay for that! Wild boar, griffins, Amazons, red-headed girls, pandas, whatever Ranma threw at him, Ryoga would endure it. He would not rest until he made Ranma pay.

Out of the woods now, Ryoga came upon a large river, its water roiling across the rocks at the shallows near the shore. Of course it would be water, wouldn't it? So much for following that farmer's directions. There was no hope for it but to follow the river. Ryoga grimaced. It meant a day's more travel at least, but he would find his way back to Honshu, to Tokyo, to Nerima ward, to Furinkan High school, and to Saotome Ranma.

Tokyo was a big city. Someone, somewhere, eventually had to know how to get there. Ryoga shook his head as he turned to follow the river. If it weren't for that restaurant lady he met in China, he still wouldn't know Ranma had gone back to Japan. He had learned to be cautious, but after she described the guy and mentioned he had said he was from the Anything Goes school of martial arts, Ryoga knew she had good information. She had been cleaning her restaurant with her husband and five-year-old girl. She had said Ranma worked for her, which was a bit odd. Then she said Ranma had left China and told Ryoga exactly where he was going.

Ryoga wished he could remember the lady's time. Tasuko…Tasume…something like that. He would just have to satisfy himself with wishing good will upon her and hoping it reached her somehow. Only five days after meeting her, Ryoga felt closer to finding Ranma than he had in months.

"Just you wait, Ranma! I'll get you yet!" Ryoga yelled and ran faster up the river, speeding rapidly in the exact opposite direction of his goal.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

Ranma trudged behind her father on the way to Tofu's clinic, wondering how she could stop hating her father enough to ask him about her mother. He wasn't a panda, but he might as well have been for how little he was talking. Ranma wasn't sure how she felt about going to Tofu's either. Last night she had been so tired, she had actually managed to forget about Kasumi until this morning. Then it was like it was Kasumi day at the Kasumi Café and the special that morning was Kasumi with a side of Kasumi.

Soun had finally done something after Genma told him what had been going on. Kasumi was banned from doing housework until she told everybody why she was doing what she was doing and apologized. Kasumi, had kept up her act, saying she had no idea what he was talking about, but that she'd be happy for a little vacation.

This meant it was up to Ranma to make breakfast, which was…interesting. Everybody seemed okay with Ranma's breakfast, but she wasn't quite okay with that. She would have to find some way to make her breakfast more impressive.

Kasumi had gotten her alone after they ate. "Have you visited your mother yet?" she asked.

Ranma told her she hadn't.

"You don't want to be here. You should stay with your mother," Kasumi advised.

Ranma hit her back with "Yeah? Well you should stay outta my business!" but it immediately felt sour coming out. Ranma didn't know what Kasumi's wishes were in any kind of precise sense, but she did understand that Kasumi primarily wanted Ranma to stop messing around in her affairs. Asking Kasumi to do the same felt a bit wrong.

Thing was, Ranma was actually having a hard time caring about Kasumi's affairs. Genma had described his efforts with curing Tofu during a break in training, but Ranma's attention kept drifting to how she was going to ask him about her mother, and then what kind of person her mother was, and whether she should see her now or wait until she could be a guy. As important as it was to figure out how Kasumi managed to brainwash Tofu and to what purpose, as important as it was to stop her from torturing the elderly, Ranma simply couldn't give a damn. She had plumb run out of damns to give.

It was more or less this "damn" shortage that made Ranma trudge behind her father instead of lightly skip or perform cartwheels as they went to Dr. Tofu's clinic. The fact that Ranma felt like ripping Genma to shreds while screaming until her throat bled in spurts, didn't help. She was going to Tofu's for herself. She wasn't going for her father or anyone else for that matter. But it felt like it all the same. Ranma was sure the subject of Kasumi would come up, and there'd be some new clue, and she would have to do something uncomfortable again. Or worse, Genma might find something to give her a lecture about and she would have to find some way to endure it. She wasn't ready to confront him. She sure as hell didn't want to be in the same room with him.

Still, Ranma followed her father into the clinic, albeit with all the enthusiasm of a claustrophobic entering an elevator. This early in the morning, the waiting area with its gray vinyl sofas and square shoe rack was empty. It felt charged with a bizarre energy. A lot of drama happened the night before last, and it left a sort of static cling. Ranma wondered if it was real or just her imagination. If it was real, maybe she could learn to read it…

Tofu came out of his office, apparently having heard them enter. He looked a bit weary, and maybe a little more serious that the last time Ranma saw him sane. "Good morning Mr. Saotome! Ranma-chan." He gave a pleasant nod to Genma and Ranma. Keeping his attention on Ranma he said, "I'm glad you were able to come. I'm sorry you had to miss school, but I think this could be rather urgent. I cleared up my early schedule, so we shouldn't have any interruptions. Why don't you come into my office. There's hot water in the thermos if you want tea. I'm going to talk with your father a little and then we'll start okay?"

Ranma nodded, frowning a little in confusion before moving past Tofu to slide open the office door.

"I'm sorry to be secretive, Ranma-chan. It's something of a personal matter. You understand, right?"

Ranma didn't turn around so she could be free to roll her eyes without Tofu knowing. "Yeah. I don't mind." It was probably something about Kasumi. And she could understand not wanting to talk about that with someone else. Furthermore, she was happier knowing that she wouldn't be hearing about it.

She sat down on the stool in the clinic. Because she was wearing one of her Chinese outfits, she was able to sit normally instead of cross legged. She had to wear one of the baggy, unaltered outfits, because the altered one had to be washed. She missed having her clothes fit her. Maybe she would go to the Nade and have Nishikigi-san alter some more of them. Maybe all of them.

Ranma chuckled lightly at that idea. Well why not? It wasn't like wearing uncomfortable clothes was going to make her any less a girl. And when she was a guy again, she could just buy new outfits or something. Then again, she could just buy something now. Or at least she could do that later, when she had more money from her job.

Ranma eyed the thermos and sighed. More out of boredom than any real thirst, she poured herself a cup of tea. Tofu and Genma came in while she was letting the tea steep. Ranma told herself she wasn't going to throw her cup at her father and run out of the building, but she wasn't sure she believed it. She breathed in, breathed out, thought of the beach on a quiet day and took her cup calmly back to her stool.

Genma looked at Tofu and stood to the side of the door, looking like a bouncer at a night club. Tofu sat in another stool and, after giving Genma a glance, started to talk. "Okay, Ranma-chan, I was telling you the other day, I'm a bit concerned about this liquid you drank. Has anything else strange happened to you lately? Any weakness, dizzy spells, blackouts?"

Ranma started at the word "blackouts."

Tofu breathed in through his nose in a way that let Ranma know he hadn't missed her reaction. "You want to tell me about it?"

Genma was still standing in the room. What would he say? That only weak girls had black outs? Ranma closed her eyes. She was a girl now, she didn't have to worry about that crap. "I don't know if it was really a black out, but the night before last I kind of lost track of what I was doing for ten minutes or so. I couldn't remember starting to eat supper. It was weird, but no one else noticed anything."

"Was there some trigger for the black out? Were you doused with water or anything?"

Ranma frowned. "No. I remembered going down the stairs after talking to Nabiki about some stuff and then the next thing is realizing I was halfway through eating supper." Ranma pulled the tea bag out of her cup and flung it into the trash bin.

Tofu turned to Genma, "Did you notice anything?"

Genma frowned. "Yes. I suppose I did. I thought the kid was messing with me though. H- she was acting like a woman."

"I'm a girl, Pop. How else am I supposed to act?" Ranma bristled.

"You can be a girl without being prissy!"

Tofu held up his hands in a calming gesture while he wore a confused expression "I'm sure Ranma is a fine young lady, but right now, I'm more interested in what caused the black out, rather than the nature of it. You weren't drinking or anything were you? Anything else that would explain it?"

Ranma shook her head and took a cautious sip of her tea. It was still a bit too hot.

"Okay. Let me be sure of a few things. You took the vial to get rid of your Jusenkyo curse, right?"

Ranma looked up at Tofu. "Not exactly. I mean, eventually it's supposed to make it easier to manage, but first it just locks the curse."

"Locks the…" Tofu's eyes widened. He looked at Genma and back to Ranma. "Wait a minute. Ranma are you a boy or a girl."

"Can't you see for yourself?" Ranma asked, irritated.

"I mean… which were you before you fell in the springs?"

"I was a boy." Ranma grimaced. "A man. Didn't you know that already?" Ranma wondered if this was some sort of test or something. Would Tofu ask her what city she was in next?

Tofu sat back in mild shock. "I thought you were a girl cursed to turn into a boy."

"Why would you think that?" Ranma still had enough of a male ego to be a bit insulted that his machismo hadn't shone through enough for Tofu to pick up on.

"Usually hot water turns Jusenkyo victims back to their original bodies. Just like your father here. But you don't change when hot water hits you. And your father and I haven't really talked about your past all that much."

Ranma felt a bit queasy. It was true, she didn't change with hot water anymore, but that was just how the liquid in the vial worked, right? "The curse worked like that for me too, until I drank the vial."

Tofu shook his head. "That shouldn't be possible. Jusenkyo is an elemental curse tied directly to the ley lines of the Earth. You can't just reverse it with some potion."

Ranma shrugged. "I'm still a girl. Must be something you missed."

"Are you?"

Ranma took a sip of her tea. "Hmm?"

"A girl I mean."

"How many times do I got to say it? You got eyes don't you?"

"I don't mean physically," Tofu regarded Ranma intensely. "Mentally. Are you a girl or a boy _inside_?"

Ranma sighed. "If I'm a girl physically, then I've got a girl's brain, don't I? So that means I'm mentally a girl too. No getting around that."

Tofu turned around to glance briefly at Genma before addressing Ranma again. "And you believe that. You don't even question it?"

"How can I question it? It's just the truth."

Tofu shook his head as he let out a breath through his nose. "Ranma, who told you that? Who told you that you had to be whatever your body was?"

Ranma didn't want to say. Because of course it was Tasuke. Tasuke Heiko, the woman who had given her the vial.

"If that were true," Tofu continued, "then I would have never been able to get my medical license at my age. I'm far too young, almost anyone could tell you. If that were true, your father would be off in some Chinese jungle eating bamboo right now, instead of staying in this room making sure you're safe." Ranma looked over at her father. He had the same stoic look on his face that he had had all morning. "If that were true," Tofu continued more quietly, "Kasumi would be dead." Tofu stood up and went to the thermos, apparently to make some tea.

Ranma was getting a terrible feeling in her gut. Like she had kicked the ball into the wrong goal or something, only this was something much more serious.

Tofu turned back around, holding his mug in his left hand as he moved his tea bag through it vigorously with his right. "Ranma, you are a girl because you now identify yourself as a girl." Tofu's voice was just on the edge of being accusatory. "That's why the liquid in the vial was able to do what it did. Because you had this idea that your body dictated who you were, the potion was able to switch your real body for the cursed body."

"Why would that matter? What does what I think have to do with it?"

Tofu sat back down again. His voice was softer. "Everything, Ranma. Natural curses are powerful, but stupid. All it does is flip a switch after a stimulus. Hot water is the real form, cold water is the curse. If you start thinking the curse is your real form, it messes things up. Then all you need is something to mess up the stimulus and the curse can reverse on you."

Ranma's heart was beating fast now. "Wait, you mean all I would need to do to become a guy again is to pour cold water over me instead of hot?"

Tofu checked how dark his tea was briefly, then regarded Ranma once again. "Yes. Right now, you're a girl cursed to turn into a boy, rather than the other way around."

Ranma's mouth opened, but she couldn't say anything. Her mind was blank.

Tofu threw his used tea bag in the trash. "The way I figure it, the potion you drank had two parts to it. One was an immediate effect, namely triggering your curse. I've been looking and apparently all you would need to do is add water to some silt from the bottom of the spring you fell in and you'd have instant curse water, good for one use. You could drink it or bathe in it and it would trigger the curse. Of course normally if you were in hot water it wouldn't do anything, but if you wanted to be a girl…well we know what happened, don't we?" Tofu smiled.

Ranma was still struggling to form coherent thoughts.

"The second part of the potion is the tricky bit. As far as I can tell, it gave you a second curse which prevents cold water from touching you."

"Why would she do that?" Ranma wondered out loud to herself. "Why would she make it so I couldn't turn into a guy?"

"That's a good question! I assume by 'she' you mean the person who gave the potion to you?" Tofu nodded when Ranma murmured her assent. "In my experience, curses are rarely given for a good reason, but all the same, you can't really hope to cure the curse until you know what the reason is. Whatever the case, though, I don't think she had your best interests at heart."

"Why not?" Ranma asked.

Tofu took a long sip of tea. "All man-made curses are parasitic. They feed off some source of energy until that source is depleted, and only then do they dissipate. What source of energy do you suppose this curse is feeding on? Your blood? Your emotions? Your soul? Are you able or willing to live without any of those things?"

The doctor had a point. But Tasuke had given her a job, a bed, seemingly sound advice. Could she really have been cruel enough to give her another curse? And why would she want her to be a girl? Why would she give a crap at all? Ranma shook her head. "It has a definite time when it's going to be over."

Tofu nodded. "Yes, six months. But why six months? Why not a week? Or a year for that matter?"

Ranma grimaced. "I don't know." She hadn't even thought to question that. At the time, she was so sure she wasn't going to use it.

"My suspicion," Tofu said, finishing his tea and getting up to put his mug on the counter, "is that that's the amount of time it will take for whatever the source is to be used up. Some curses don't require that much energy and can go on indefinitely, just being a minor pain. But the ones with time limits are the scariest. They usually result in death."

"Great," Ranma let out a breath and got up from her stool. "Here I was just thinking I didn't have enough to worry about."

"Mr. Saotome?" Tofu called.

"Yes?"

"I think we're ready for our experiment."

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Honshu is a much larger island than Shikoku or even Hokkaido, and that Saturday night, no one knew that more than Hibiki Ryoga. Even though a niggling doubt in the back of his mind questioned whether he really was on Honshu or some other island. He had been running almost non-stop since returning to Japan. He barely got any sleep on the boat ride from China, and his brief snooze on the barge was barely substantial enough to count for anything. He had finally managed to cross over to the main island from Hokkaido on the tunnel, but even his impressive stores of energy were running low. He passed out three times already, each time picking himself up slowly and starting again.

He had to stop.

Off in the distance were lights. Was that Tokyo? Ryoga closed his eyes. He had a hard time opening them again. He growled in frustration. It didn't matter what town it was. He needed sleep. Ryoga let out a louder growl of irritation. He stopped and looked around.

He was running on the side of a road. There was a copse of trees five hundred meters or so away from where he was. He could probably pitch a tent there.

Ryoga thought about this for a moment. In order to pitch a tent he'd have to go over to the trees, get his tent from his back pack, assemble it. Make a campfire… or maybe he should make the campfire first? And was he far enough away from the city or town or whatever it was? Maybe it was a carnival? They sell cotton candy at carnivals. Ryoga remembered his Dad buying him cotton candy. It was before he got lost again. Before Ranma showed up. "Be tough," his dad told him. And he told him something else when he gave him the cotton candy. Something about taking it easy…

The sensation of falling almost didn't wake Ryoga up. Another fraction of a second and he would have had himself a concrete sandwich. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. If he had woken up on the side of the road, his face bloody and missing a few teeth, it might have been unpleasant, but on the other hand, he would have gotten some sleep.

Ryoga couldn't think right now. He had to get to the town. Ranma was in that town. He'd kill Ranma. He'd kill Ranma and then he'd be able to sleep.

"Ranma," Ryoga said, "Prepare to die." And once again, he charged forward, the small logical voice in his brain hoping that when he got to the town, he would remember to stop.

An eternity later he finally reached a building. "Maybe I should ask in here," he decided. He slid open the door. "Where is Furinkan…" Ryoga stopped. The giant wild boar was in the room, sitting with a number of the villagers. They were having a town revitalization meeting. Somehow Ryoga was back in Shikoku. Ryoga slid the door closed again slowly.

With a surge of anger, Ryoga ran away from the village, in the general direction of Mars.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

Ranma looked up at the ceiling of the guest room. Her room. It needed to be cleaned a bit more thoroughly. It still smelled of dust, old fabric and an odd, salty fish smell she couldn't quite place. Soun had told her it used to be his master's room during the time he had lived with Soun and his wife, and it hadn't ever been used since. Ranma had asked him why and he said something about a cloying aura of purest evil. Ranma hadn't noticed an aura of evil. Just a strange smell.

Ranma sat up and turned the ceiling light on. The room was large. Just as large as Soun's room. The bed only took up a quarter of it in one corner. There was a large, roughly circular area of discoloration on the tatami floor in the center of the room. It wasn't perfect, but it was a place she could sleep without having to worry about what her father or Akane or anybody else was going to say about it.

She had her talk with Genma finally. Genma had told her about a contract Nodoka had made them both sign. Ranma had to be a "man among men" or she and Genma would have to kill themselves. It didn't really make any sense. Ranma half suspected it was a lie. But that didn't quite fit either. It didn't fit Genma hovering over her to the point of being outright annoying her first day of school. It didn't fit how he was always trying to give her advice, always trying to teach her things, even when he didn't have anything to teach. And most of all it didn't fit how he had acted yesterday at Tofu's clinic.

After Tofu had suggested they start the experiment, Genma had left and returned with a bucket of water. Then, Tofu had asked her to put her hand in the water. The silvery sheen was there. Tofu babbled on about interfaces and boundaries or something, then he asked Genma to touch Ranma. The can exploded, spraying water everywhere and turning Genma into a panda. Unfazed, Genma got another bucket of water and they tried different variations for a good three hours. Tofu had Ranma try to get angry, get sad, get happy. He tried different temperatures of water, different hands. He even tried asking Ranma to think of herself as a man.

Ranma frowned and got out of the bed. She started a slow kata designed to maintain mobility and balance. She hadn't realized she was thinking of herself as a girl, until she thought of herself as a man again. It scared her. It wasn't just that she was acclimating so quickly to being a girl. It was that everything that she now cared about depended on her remaining a girl. When she thought of herself as a guy she found herself questioning why she was even bothering with Akane or Nabiki. Why she cared about school at all. When she thought of herself as a guy she was a loner, aloof, an easy going breeze on a summer's day. But she felt empty. How could she be Akane's friend as a guy? What about the fragile camaraderie she was beginning to feel with Nabiki? What about her job? What about this room that she just got? Her own room. She agreed to pay for it out of her money from work. Work as a waitress.

On some level she understood that the things that were making her happy weren't because she was a girl, but because she was finally doing things on her own, she was making friends, and she was staying in the same place for more than a day. She could do these things as a man. She knew that. But she couldn't convince herself of that. As unrealistic as it was, it seemed like if she became a man again, everything would just go away, and she'd be back on the street, finding creative ways to pay for or steal her food and shelter.

Nabiki had lent her her CD player as a room warming gift. Ranma had listened to Sparrow for the first time last night through the headphones. She wasn't sure if she liked it. It sounded a bit like a guy whining to music. Still, Ranma wanted to try other CDs. Maybe she could find some opera to listen to or something better.

Ranma finished her kata. Through the window, the thin dome of a red sun was just peeking over the buildings. It was almost time for training.

Genma had stayed with her and Tofu for three hours testing the water repelling curse. Despite the existential crisis it caused, thinking of herself as a guy did nothing to the film of air around her skin. Ranma could make it a little more pronounced by releasing her ki, or by getting angry, but the biggest effect was when Genma touched her. The strange thing was that there was only a very small effect when Tofu did the same thing. Tofu had said that was interesting, but that he didn't want to rush to any conclusions. He dismissed Ranma and said he'd have to think about what to do next.

It was then, in the waiting room while Tofu was seeing his first other client for the day, that Genma doused himself with hot water and finally talked.

Ranma dug through her back pack and retrieved a Chinese outfit she hadn't worn yet. Nabiki was saying the utility bills were getting a bit high and that she'd have to limit herself to washing her clothes once a week. Ranma put on the baggy trousers and the loosely fitting shirt. She cinched up the sash. She was going to have to get some new clothes, she decided.

"This isn't going away," Genma had told her. "I can't just ignore it anymore. You're not going to stop being a girl, even when this is over, are you?"

Ranma kept her eyes focused on the disorganized stacks of out of date magazines. "If it's ever over."

Genma was silent for a moment, during which time Ranma realized that she had implicitly confirmed his worst fears. "I know Kasumi told you about your mother," Genma continued, "I shouldn't have told you she was dead. The truth is hard, but maybe if I had told you earlier, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"What truth?" Ranma had asked.

Genma had answered by telling Ranma about the contract her mother had made them both sign. About how insane she had acted.

"Couldn't you have put her in an asylum, or called the police or something?" Ranma had asked angrily.

Genma shook his head. "I loved her. I still do." Then he got up and went into Tofu's office.

It wasn't immediate. It took the rest of the day. It took thinking about it walking from Tofu's clinic, all the way through work and for several hours of restlessness last night, but slowly, Ranma had forgiven her father.

Because it all made sense now. The constant pushing, the manic fervor with which the man had taught Ranma the Art, and the nigh absurd lectures he kept giving. Even the cats. He had been fighting to allow Ranma to see her mother again.

Of course, Genma, being the idiot that he was, had completely screwed that up.

Ranma chuckled a bit at that. But then she frowned. She still wasn't ready to give up. She pulled the vial out of her pigtail and looked at it. She would become a man again, she had promised herself. Just a week ago. But so much had changed in that time. She wasn't ready to give up, but whether Tasuke was right, or Tofu, either way she was a girl right now, and she was okay with that. There wasn't any reason to carry the whole manhood thing around with her all the time.

She untied her dragon whisker from her pigtail and put it in the vial. Then she placed the vial next on the nightstand next to the bed. Then she gasped as all the air suddenly left her body and she was pulled back violently toward the floor.

She tried to get up but her arms and legs were held by strong limbs. Strong, decidedly feminine limbs.

"Good morning Ranma-chan! I see you've decided to make your stay with us more permanent?"

"Kasumi?" Ranma cried in astonishment.

"Please, don't try to escape. Blood stains are such a pain to clean!"

Ranma felt something sharp against the skin of her neck. "Gods and ancestors! What the hell is your deal, Kasumi?"

"I gave you a good reason to leave, Ranma-chan. But you refuse to go away. So let me ask you this. Have you killed anybody?"

"What?"

"Have you taken a life?" The edge of whatever Kasumi had pressed against Ranma's neck pressed deeper.

"No! Gods, is that what you're worried about? You think I'm dangerous?" Ranma thought she could probably get out of this situation, but she was curious now.

"Not just you, Ranma-chan. Your father, my father, me. Anyone who is a master in the Art. Akane and Nabiki are not yet afflicted, but if your father keeps training them they will be. Akane's so close."

Ranma swallowed. "Look, Kasumi, I'm listening. How about you let go of the crazy for a little while so we can sit and talk this out nice and calm like?"

"You think I want to do this? I am LOSING CONTROL here, you bastard! I'm restraining myself as much as possible, but I am so FUCKING PISSED at you right now!"

Ranma squinted her eyes shut. "You ain't exactly my favorite person either at the moment, Kasumi, I got to say." Ranma made an escape attempt, but Kasumi's hold on her wasn't just strong, it was some unbelievably intense synonym for strong that hadn't yet been invented. That whittled Ranma's strategic smorgasbord down to about two, and both of those involved possibly killing her assailant.

Immediately after Ranma's attempt, she felt a hundred sharp points pressing into her. It also seemed to be getting hotter. "Stop making me angry, Ranma-chan! I don't want to kill you!"

"You've got a funny way of-"

"SHUT UP! Stop making snarky comments! It isn't helping!"

Of course all Ranma could do now was think of snarky comments to say. Foremost in her mind was that if she had to stop making snarky comments to save her life, she might very well be doomed. She grudgingly started to think about cats. "Uh, I hope this isn't 'snarky,' but how _can_ I help?"

"Act like your father. Or Akane." Kasumi said through grit teeth.

"Oh, uh…so you love Akane more than me, huh?" Ranma tried.

"Yes. I love her infinitely more than you."

"I uh…knew it! Uh…Kasumi you idiot!" Strangely, Kasumi's grip lessened at this. The sharp points retreated, emboldened by this Ranma went for "You never let me cook! I'm just as much of a martial artist as you are!"

Kasumi slowly released Ranma.

As soon as she could, Ranma bounded up out of Kasumi's grasp. She watched as a long flat blade retracted into Kasumi's hand. "Is that…?"

"I was never cured," she said, rubbing her hand where the blade went in. "Tofu just taught me a way to get control over it. You know Akane very well in such a short time."

Ranma shrugged. "She's my best friend. You need some help up?"

"Don't touch me!" Kasumi sat up. She was wearing pink pajamas with elephants on them. Not exactly the normal attire of a would-be assassin, but then Kasumi wasn't exactly normal. "I apologize…for attacking you. You've made things very difficult for me recently, though, and I …" Kasumi squinted her eyes shut. "I don't want Akane or Nabiki to go through this."

"Through what?"

"You know what! You think you're the only one who has a limit break?"

"A what?"

"I heard you yowling in the kitchen while Akane and I were cooking. I asked your father about it. He called it the nekoken?"

"I wasn't…I mean that was…That only happens when there are cats around."

Kasumi gave Ranma a level stare and got to her feet. "It's only there when you feel at your most vulnerable, when your precious pride can't sustain you. It's only a coincidence that until recently the only time that's happened is when cats are around."

Ranma opened and closed her mouth. Then she crossed her arms. "Well, look who's a Chatty Cathy all a sudden! You gonna tell me why you're beating up old people?"

Kasumi frowned and started shaking. "Ranma, please. Your remarks are extremely irritating."

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"You're constantly trying to prove to people that you don't care, that it's no big deal for you, all in a day's work, tralala!" Kasumi waved her head back and forth and moved her index fingers in circles up in the air ironically. She put her hands down "It's a lie, Ranma. It's all a lie and that irritates me."

"Oh," Ranma said. "Good to know." She didn't think the way she acted was a lie, but it wasn't like there was any way she was going to convince Kasumi of that.

"And if you knew half of what those old people had done, you might not be so worried about them."

Ranma raised an eye brow. "Oh yeah? What did they do?"

Blades started to protrude out of Kasumi's face in a menacing pattern. "STOP IT!" She squeezed her eyes shut and the blades retracted. "ANCESTORS! How do I deal with you? How do I keep you from asking these damnable questions?"

Ranma shrugged. "Start training with us. Stop trying to control everything. Give me a good reason to trust you."

Kasumi shook her head resolutely. "No. Training is what did this to me. It did it to you too. I don't want to hurt anybody any more. I don't want Akane or Nabiki suffering like we have."

"Look, I got some problems, sure, but I wouldn't say I'm _suffering_…"

"That's your pride talking again! What has the Art ever given you but more problems?"

Ranma set her jaw. "It's given me the power to protect the ones I love."

Kasumi scoffed. "The only one you love is yourself."

Ranma frowned in confusion. "That isn't true."

Kasumi gave a doubtful look.

"I pretty much love pops, right? And Akane…sorta. I mean I like her as a friend. And I've started to like Nabiki too now I know her a little better."

Kasumi shook her head. "Nabiki convinced you to stay somehow, but I know you wanted to leave. Love doesn't mean sticking around because people seem to like you. Love is caring for someone unconditionally. Being there for them even after they betray you. You can't love someone and then leave them as soon as you find out they have imperfections."

"My father lied to me! Akane kept forcing me to be another version of her! You brainwashed a doctor into making it feel like my skin was tearing off my body! Those aren't just imperfections!"

Kasumi looked down. "I can't attack people directly. I might accidentally kill them. But if I don't release some of my anger, my limit break will trigger and I won't be able to control myself. If there were some other way… Tofu and I have an agreement. I apologize for having him use the Flensing Point on you, but I kept feeling like I had to kill you. If I didn't get some kind of relief…"

Ranma blinked. "That is kinda like the nekoken, isn't it? It's just instead of cats, for you it's anger." No wonder she was such a peacenik. Trying to get her to train again would be like trying to get Ranma to adopt an orphan tiger.

"Blades," Kasumi confirmed sadly. "That's my manifestation. Blades like the blade that killed my mother." She turned and started walking out of the door.

"Hey! Where are you going? You can't just drop a bomb like that and leave!"

"This was once Grand Master Happosai's room, back before any of us were born." Kasumi said tiredly, her back to Ranma. "In a hidden compartment under the bed are all of the scrolls of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Read the one titled 'The Wheel of Eight Desires.' Then tell me the Art is still something that should be venerated." With that, Kasumi left.

Ranma frowned. She wasn't sure what to do with all this. She wasn't sure what to think about Kasumi, or the Art or just about anything else. She walked to the side of the bed and crouched down. She felt along the floor and found a cut section of tatami. She pulled it back and felt a small hole in the wood underneath. When she lifted, a section of the floor moved out of place. Ranma paused for a moment, then she lay down on the floor and shoved her arm into the space revealed by the false floor. She felt something soft and silky. She took it out of the cache and looked at it.

"Panties?" Ranma asked as she looked at what was in her hand, perplexed. She turned the garment around in her hands. "Yep. Panties." Ranma put them back in the hole and replaced the covering. It was too much for her brain to handle. Later on, when she could get more of a running start on it, maybe she'd try to figure out what was going on. For right now she would make do with being utterly lost.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga had awoken that morning under a tree in a city park. He wasn't sure which city. It _felt_ like Tokyo, but he'd been fooled before. After using a public restroom to take care of his daily needs, he walked out of the park and onto the sidewalk warily. An expensive looking car zoomed past. It looked new. Ryoga found he could judge his proximity to Tokyo by how new and expensive the vehicles he saw were. He smiled, he must have arrived!

Allowing himself a somewhat manic chuckle, he started running down the sidewalk. He had to find Furinkan High School. All he had to do was keep running until he found a school, then find out if it was Furinkan or not. Then he could find Ranma and finally make the bastard pay for what he did.

The first three schools weren't Furinkan. Neither were the next three. There was a building Ryoga was pretty sure was a post office, but he had checked it anyway. He ate a bowl of Ramen made with some hot tap water for lunch. Then he started again. Four more schools, none of them Furinkan. The building Ryoga found with the barbed wire and the men in uniforms carrying guns was DEFINITELY not Furinkan High School. He was almost sure of that. High schools didn't put numbers on the student's chests. Or at least, he didn't _think_ they did. He was almost about to turn around to check the place again when he saw some students about his age in blue school uniforms leaving the school.

Ryoga didn't waste any time. He grabbed the closest male student and asked "Where is Furinkan High School?"

The boy pointed to the sign. Ryoga read it carefully. Fu-rin-kan Kou-kou. Yes! He was here! Finally! "I've arrived!" he exclaimed. After making sure there wasn't any mistake, Ryoga asked his prisoner if he knew where he could find Saotome Ranma.

"Saotome Ranma? She's in FuMa. You'll have to talk to Tendo Nabiki about seeing her."

"Her?" Ryoga repeated. "Your Saotome is a girl?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, real pretty red-head. Friends with the Tendos. Kind of a tomboy."

Ryoga released the boy. "Curse you, Saotome! How dare you force an innocent girl to take your name!"

The boy cocked his head. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be related to the Kunos would you?"

"I don't know who these Kunos are. Tell me where I can find this Tendo Nabiki character." Perhaps the girl Ranma would have some idea as to the boy Ranma's whereabouts.

"Tendo Nabiki has an eye patch. You can't miss her. In fact there she is right now." The boy pointed.

A thin girl with a pageboy hairstyle and an eyepatch was walking with two other girls away from the school. Ryoga moved toward her. "Tendo Nabiki?"

The girl with the eye patch regarded Ryoga. She seemed to size him up. Then she smiled predatorily. "Yes, how may I help you?"

"Where is Saotome Ranma?"

Nabiki's smile vanished. "What do you want with her?"

"I'm actually looking for a male Saotome Ranma. I was told he would be here. I figured maybe the female Ranma knows where the male one ran off to."

Nabiki crossed her arms. "I might know something about that. Why are you so keen on meeting him though?"

Ryoga shook his head. "I don't want to meet him. I want to kill him. He's made my life a living hell!"

The girl's eye squinted at him for a moment. Then she set her jaw. "Ranma's in jail. He comes up for parole in a little less than six months, but if I were you, I'd forget about him."

Ryoga grimaced. That made perfect sense. The bastard deserved to go to prison after all of the things he did, but Ryoga hadn't come all this way for nothing. "Which prison did he go to?"

Nabiki was silent for a moment. "Why should I tell you?"

Ryoga thought about that for a moment. He really didn't have a good reason.

One of the girls next to Nabiki rolled her eyes. "She wants money, genius. Pay up."

Ryoga frowned. "Money? I don't have any money." Even before he finished the sentence Nabiki and her companions were walking past him.

"Arrgh!" Ryoga half growled, half yelled, and he slammed a fist through the end of the stone gateway of the school. This drew curious looks from all the students passing by. Including Nabiki, who was eyeing him with particular interest. "Sorry" Ryoga said sheepishly as he tried to put the bricks he'd dislodged back into place with no success.

"Hey, what's your name?" Nabiki asked after the bricks fell to the pavement the second time.

"Hibiki Ryoga," Ryoga responded.

Nabiki nodded. "It suits you. I'm feeling generous today, so how about I give you a good five minute head start before I report you to the police?"

Ryoga grimaced. He could handle police, but they were always a pain, and something might get back to his parents about it. "Um…thanks." Ryoga wheeled around and started running. "Damn you, Ranma! How dare you get arrested! I'll kill you for this!"

If Ryoga hadn't left so abruptly he might have had time to wonder how it was Nabiki planned to contact the authorities in five minutes when the closest phone was at least ten minutes away. He might have noticed how she relaxed as he made to leave. He might even have seen her predatory smile returning. But Ryoga saw none of these things, and really he wasn't interested. Powered by sheer angst, he just kept running.

Eventually, exhausted and hungry, he came to a familiar building in a village next to a large cliff near the sea shore.

A village in Shikoku.

~~~~~End of Chapter 10~~~~~

Author notes:

This chapter spans four days. A record. w00t. I think the pacing may have suffered somewhat, but I think it turned out good overall. I welcome any feedback of course.

The speed that Ryoga is falling when he reaches the ground from the cliff is based off of a back of the envelope calculation. Assuming the cliff he jumps off is about 300 meters high, then with vf^2=vi^2+2ad he would hit the ground at the square root of 6000, or a bit less than 80 meters per second. Converting this into kilometers per hour gives 300 km/h. I'm assuming Ryoga's umbrella reduces his speed by about half so we get 150 km/h. Which is about the speed of a car on a highway. Physics is cool:-)

The scene with the otaku comes courtesy of a reviewer to a previous chapter who suggested that Ranma and Akane could be actors for a live action version of Dirty Pair. This struck me as being simultaneously a great idea and utterly ridiculous; so I had to find a way to fit it in without actually doing it. I'm not saying it couldn't happen. Obviously there are plenty of young actresses in Japan and they do make live action versions of anime and manga. But I just don't see it happening for Ranma and Akane in this story. I think it's a great idea for another fanfiction, though.

In defense of the bicycle pun: The Japanese word for bicycle is jitensha and the word for bisexual is ryouseiteki and it would be difficult to get those confused. My defense here is that Japanese might also use the English word for bisexual which in wasei (English with Japanese phonetics) is baisekushuaru while bicycle would be baiseku. So Nabiki used the English word for bisexual when she was talking with Ranma and Ranma didn't quite remember it right. Akane, being a good student, knows the word for bicycle in English and so finds it funny. I considered taking the pun out, but I didn't want things to get too angsty.

Don't worry, I plan on having more about Kasumi's curse, what she did with Tofu, limit breaks, the Wheel of Eight Desires etc. later. Also, even though I find the idea of Ryoga never coming back somewhat humorous, I already have ideas for what he's going to do in the next chapter, so you Ryoga-philes out there need not feel stressed at how things ended this chapter. He'll be back. And his sections will eventually diverge further from canon and be less introspective for those of you who like their derivative fiction to be less derivative.

Thanks, as always, for your comments.


	11. If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 11: If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother

Where we learn how Akane's mother died, and one of Ranma's curses is cured…somewhat.

Disclaimer: This fanfiction uses material from the Ranma ½ anime and manga written originally by Takahashi Rumiko. If you enjoy this chapter, consider purchasing some Ranma merchandize from Viz media or another reputable source. And if you leave a review, that will be extra-spectacular. Like if firework explosions became sentient and joined the circus.

~~~~~Ch.11~~~~~

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

They comprised a motley crew: some in their thirties, some still children. A handful of girls, but mostly men and boys. Some of them wore vastly inappropriate uniforms. One boy was dressed as a baseball umpire. Genma smiled. No doubt that one went to school with Ranma.

"I don't know, Saotome…" Soun stood beside Genma arms crossed standing directly beneath the sign that read _basics_. "…What do you think?"

"I think we need to cull the herd. We're not prepared for this many students yet. We need five or six dedicated learners."

Soun nodded pensively.

"Oh, come _on_!" Nabiki made an exasperated movement and stepped forward from beside Genma. "Listen up, everybody! I know a lot of you are excited after our demonstration earlier today, but you should know that the tuition for the Tendo and Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts is fifty thousand yen a month. Since this is your first class, those of you who do not leave now will be obligated to pay us the first fifty thousand at the end of the session."

There were quite a few loud protests at this along the lines of "That's ridiculous!", "No one charges that much!", "Screw that! I'm leaving!", and "Hey! Will you go out with me?". That last was, of course, directed at Nabiki. Genma had to say, the girl did make an impression. Gone was the ratty old uniform that she had been using up till this morning. Now she wore a thick, silk, bright green uniform with a dark velvet fringe that fit her perfectly. The uniform, coupled with the eye patch she still wore, might have made her seem like a cosplayer if it weren't for her attitude. No one made any witty remarks about her looking like a ninja pirate, perhaps because, at an unconscious level, they suspected that she might actually be one. It was just a pity her skill didn't match up to her bravada.

Nabiki gave a little salute to her solicitor and called out "In your dreams, tourist!" The girl somehow made the words sound like heartfelt gratitude. Genma wondered how she could have determined that the boy was a tourist. Then he realized that she meant that the boy wasn't serious about martial arts. Which implied that she was. But wasn't she just going along with all this so that Genma would teach her a secret technique? Of course if she really wanted him to teach the umisenken to her, acting like she was serious about the Art would be a good first step. Maybe it was all a show? She was definitely hiding something. She was supposed to ask Grandmother Shiratori about Kasumi, but she had reported that she didn't get any "useable" information. That had to be some kind of prevarication. Greed was definitely her sin. She had a definite desire to hoard. What was she stockpiling now?

Genma gave up. Trying to work out the girl's machinations was like trying to unravel a knot of duct tape with a pair of chopsticks. For now, she was an ally and, for now, that was all that mattered. He just wished the two heirs to the school hadn't picked such unfortunate times to work. He would have to find a way to get them to quit that job at the restaurant. They could find another one that didn't impinge so much on their time. And maybe one that wasn't so…girly.

Genma gave a silent prayer to the spirits. Tofu mentioned he might have an idea of how to get around the curse from the vial Ranma drank. He just needed to do a few more experiments on Genma to figure out how Jusenkyo worked. Hopefully it wouldn't be too busy tomorrow and they could figure something out .

He watched as nearly all of the students left the dojo in cacophonous rush. Seven remained standing in the dojo. A good number to start with, considering there were liable to be a few dropouts.

"Wait." Nabiki held up a hand. She ran out of the dojo and was gone for a good minute before she came back in with a woman in a pink jogging suit. The woman looked like she was in her mid thirties. She had a strange lopsided hairstyle that covered up one eye. She looked completely out of place: nervous and almost about ready to break into tears.

"Why are you bringing _her_ back in here?" one of the six, a teenaged girl in a white track suit with a white lily in her hair asked, not realizing the irony.

"She wants to take the class, and she's willing to pay. Isn't that right?"

The woman nodded. "Y-yes. "

Genma frowned. Why did Nabiki bring the woman back? She wasn't likely to learn anything but the most basic of moves. She was too old to become a master or anything. Besides she could barely walk, and what were those marks on her neck?

Oh.

Genma set his teeth. He looked at the other seven students, the lily girl, a sickly looking boy with rings under his eyes, a boy with thick eyebrows and a shaved head, an older man with an inordinate amount of muscles, two kids who looked like they wanted to be street toughs when they grew up... Nabiki was right to bring the woman back in. She probably belonged there more than any of the other students. And she wouldn't have to pay anything if Genma had anything to do with it. It was a delicate situation. He'd have to make sure other students behaved, and eventually the woman would probably have to contact some kind of professional. But she had to gain the confidence to do that first, and that was something martial arts could do for her. But how had Nabiki seen the woman's situation in such a short time? Why did she care so much? She wasn't beaten was she?

Genma scrutinized his friend Soun's face in profile, trying to detect signs of a child abuser. How well did he really know him? It had been a decade since…

He nodded realizing. It wasn't Soun. Of course it wasn't. Maybe everything else was an act, but Nabiki did want to help that woman.

She wanted to help her, because she hadn't been able to help her mother.

~~~~~furo~~~~~

_The following night, after her challenge for the day, and after a short spar with Akane, Ranma soaks in the furo. She feels weary, not from working too hard or from stress this time, but from a vague frustration that seems to eat at her edges. It's something about how easy her challenge was today. So disappointing. And her spar with Akane somehow just made it worse. It's something about work. About always doing the right thing. Maybe it has something to do with being a girl. She wonders idly how the first class went last night and resolves to ask her father or Nabiki as soon as she gets out._

_Ranma sinks under the surface of the steaming water for a moment to wet her face and hair. Her radiant face and fiery hair. She smiles. She's beginning to look forward to Kuno everyday at school. She's finding it harder to convince herself she shouldn't date him for real. Make him her boyfriend. But she might be a man again in five and a half months. And then the mixed signals she gets from Akane confuse her too. _

_And there's the fact that what Tasuke said to her might have been completely bogus. Maybe Ranma's not just a girl because she's physically a girl. Maybe she's a girl because she wants to be. _

_Ranma hears the door slide open. She looks up to see Kasumi standing naked except for a towel she's holding in front of her. Ranma feels an involuntary twinge of nausea from seeing the older Tendo sister. She's really had enough of her lately. _

_"Please excuse me if I'm intruding," Kasumi says sweetly, nervously._

_Ranma grunts in acquiescence. She clasps her hands together behind her head and looks up at the ceiling. She knows she hung the "do not disturb" sign on the door. She wonders if anyone in the Tendo family actually bothers to read the sign or if it's just there for a false sense of security._

_Kasumi washes herself methodically, but efficiently. Soon she's lowering herself into the furo, and Ranma is analyzing her assets. Kasumi is more mature in almost every sense of the word, and it makes Ranma vaguely irritated. Where she is cute, Kasumi is beautiful, and part of her wants to punch the older girl's face in. And no girl has any right being that tall. _

_"Did you read the scroll?" Kasumi isn't looking at Ranma. She's looking at some spot on the wall. _

_"I skimmed it a bit." The Wheel of Eight Desires. The scroll is kind of neat, even if it doesn't seem to have much to do with martial arts or explain anything about why Kasumi is a bitch sometimes or why she has knives that come out of her skin when she's angry. It ties each of the four basic elements with two desires and puts them in an arrangement of concentric circles: the elements in the center, then the two desires spreading out from each element, and finally, at the edge, a further description of the desire. But it doesn't seem as important as Kasumi is saying it is. It barely even seems to relate to her. The two desires in the section marked "air" are Lust and Pride. And the description for Pride reads "desire to be free of resistance."_

_ But that's not what Ranma wants. She wants to be acknowledged as the best. She wants to be able to be Akane's and Nabiki's friend without running into a hundred conflicts. She wants to see her mother without having to worry about a seppuku pledge. None of that has anything to do with wanting to be free of resistance… Does it? Ranma shakes her head. She figures the scroll is just another quack method of trying to tell a fortune. Like looking at people's blood type or the year they were born and trying to make guesses as to how they might act. A fun idea, but ultimately a lame waste of time._

_Kasumi lets out air through her nostrils, which, despite her mild smile, Ranma is beginning to learn means she is rather annoyed."I'm better now, Ranma. I am sorry for my outburst yesterday morning, but it was necessary, and I learned something from it."_

_Ranma raises an eyebrow. She manages to repress an urge to make a remark to the effect that maybe the thing that Kasumi learned was that she was an evil bitch… and just hears the older girl out._

_"I've been repressing my anger for a long time. It's a strategy that has worked, for the most part, but maybe…" Kasumi sighs. "I don't know..."_

_Ranma rolls her eyes impatiently. "What is it?"_

_"I've been doing all these things for my family, Ranma. You understand? For them. And now they won't talk to me. "_

_"And you think I will?"_

_Kasumi looks directly at Ranma briefly. A look not of anger, but of sorrow. "I don't love you. You're a stranger to me. That makes it easier."_

_Ranma shrugs. She sinks down further into the water. Her foot accidently touches Kasumi's calf, and she sits up reflexively. "Sorry."_

_"It's not your fault," Kasumi doesn't seem to be talking about the accidental brush of skin. "You're just the catalyst for something that would have eventually happened anyway."_

_ "Whatever." Ranma looks at the gently rippling surface of the water. "You gonna spill your guts now or what? I don't want to get all wrinkly here."_

_Kasumi crosses her arms. She's looking down. "Nabiki considers you part of the family. From the way she acts, Akane feels the same way. I had to pay Nabiki to talk to me. She never charged me for anything before."_

_"That's nice to hear, I guess but…"_

_Kasumi holds up a hand. "Ranma-chan, if you want to be a part of this family, you need to know how our mother died."_

_"You said she got killed?"_

_"Yes. She was murdered." Kasumi's nails are biting into the flesh of her arm. Blades are wavering in and out of the skin of her forearms, shins, and face. "She was stabbed by the sword of a man who said he was her fiance."_

~~~~~?~~~~~

Kirika wiped her hands dry on her apron as she walked out of the kitchen to see who the visitor was. Her eyes widened when she saw him. He was about a head taller than her. Black, shining hair in a long braid, dark, piercing eyes. He wore a white jacket in a Chinese style, only it had a much larger collar than was normal. The tips of the collar rose almost to his nostrils. He was clean-shaven, and his jacket was open to reveal a well-muscled chest.

Okata Kosuke looked really good, especially considering he had supposedly died ten years ago.

"Hello, Kaa-chan," Kosuke said with a smirk. In his right hand he held a solid-looking bo staff. He gripped it lightly, as a seasoned traveler might. Like he had his hand on the shoulder of an old friend.

"Hello, Okaa-san," She said without a trace of humor.

It was an old joke of theirs, developed when they played together as children. Kosuke would do something crazy, like hang upside down on monkey bars and Kirika would tell him to get down. Then Kosuke would say, "Okay KiriKA-chan!" Emphasizing the Ka so it sounded like he was calling her "Kaa-chan" or "mom." It wasn't long before the "Kiri-" wasn't necessary, and it wasn't long before Kirika realized that she could use the first two syllables of Kosuke's family name the same way. And soon they were calling each other "mother" every time they saw each other. Other kids picked it up. Even Kirika's husband, Soun had picked it up, though now it made a different sort of sense. She was a mother now. She had three children.

"I have returned to you. I would have you honor our engagement." His voice was a melodious tenor that quivered through her insides dangerously. The man could charm the socks off a unicorn. He had always had charisma. He had always been quick with retorts. Soun, by contrast, had always been so clumsy, so nervous even at his most calm. But Soun had never lied to her. Could barely keep a secret, he was so honest.

Kirika brushed a few strands of blue-black hair from her forehead. "You would, huh? Did you happen to see the name in front of the house? This is the Tendo residence. I am Tendo Kirika, wife of Soun. I haven't seen you in almost fifteen years, Kosuke. I can't even say I know you anymore."

She wasn't sure if she could ever say that.

Kosuke nodded. "So it is simply a matter of challenging your husband. Where might I find him?" He looked behind her looking for an opponent.

Kirika crossed her arms. "My _husband_ is in the dojo, training my _three daughters_."

If Kosuke heard the emphasis Kirika placed on the words, he gave no indication."Oh. How convenient. I guess I'll go over there then." Kosuke turned around.

Kirika grabbed his shoulder before he could walk out. "No you won't." Her eyes glanced at the sheathed sword and knife at Kosuke's belt. "I don't love you, Kosuke. I don't know what makes you think you can show up alive after all this time and just expect me to be waiting for you, but whatever it is, you need to cease contact with it, because it's making you insane."

He turned to face her again. "Do you think I was just biding my time these years? I've been all over the world, Kirika. I've learned everything I can, fought with gods, made countless sacrifices, just so I can be with you again!"

Kirika wondered if it was true. The man seemed sincere enough, but he was also the person who had taught her not to trust her impressions of people. She sighed. It didn't matter anyway. "If that's true, I'm sorry, but I thought you were dead. I moved on. You have to accept that."

Kosuke smiled. "No, I don't." In a blur of movement, he was gone.

Kirika felt a chill in her stomach. Just five minutes ago she had been cutting carrots for a salad. And now her ex-fiance was back from the grave and about to challenge her husband, possibly to the death. It was unreal. Like in the moments before a car crash.

She squeezed her eyes closed, shaking herself free of her shock. She swallowed, opened her eyes, and almost dove into the kitchen. She grabbed the knife she had been using to cut carrots and cut a slit into her long skirt so that she could run without as much impediment. Then, still holding the knife, she rushed toward the dojo.

Kosuke was already facing Soun when she entered the dojo. The two men were really of equal height, but Kosuke had always seemed larger a decade and a half ago, and he seemed even more so now. Kasumi was standing, seeming unsure of what to do, while Nabiki was holding Akane, trying to keep her from getting upset. They were all in their kenpo uniforms. Kasumi must have just finished sparring with her father. "Get out, girls!" Kirika yelled, "This is too dangerous!"

Her eyes wide, and not taking a moment to argue, Nabiki grabbed her little sister's hand and ran out of the dojo. Kasumi however, was bringing her fists up in a fighting position. "This man insulted me, Mother. He just challenged father when we were in the middle of a spar. He should pay for that."

Soun, spirits bless him, turned away from Kosuke to tell Kasumi, "You're not old enough to accept challenges on behalf of the school yet, honey. Maybe in three or four years…"

"I'm almost ten!" Kasumi protested.

"Do you accept my challenge or not, Tendo?" Kosuke asked in an irritated, yet slightly mocking tone.

Soun turned back to Kosuke, grim-faced. "I do not _recognize _your challenge, Okata-san. You couldn't challenge me for my wife any more than you could challenge a mountain to give up a cloud. Under different terms, I'd be happy to fight with you. Even better, we could go have a cup or two of sake and reminisce. You can tell me what you've been up to all this time, since apparently you haven't been dead."

Kirika smiled. "How could you love that Tendo boy?" her friends had asked, "all he ever wants to do is drink sake and read poetry. He can't even fight all that well." They didn't understand that it was precisely those attributes that attracted her to him in the first place. And Soun could fight. She had seen him do it. It just wasn't something he liked to do with any seriousness if he could avoid it.

Kirika gave her husband a questioning look. Should she step in? She was a highly skilled martial artist in her own right. She had no problem taking down most of the challengers, it was just the superpowered ones she left for her husband. But she didn't want to embarrass him. There was a big difference between a fight with some street tough and a formal challenge with a worthy opponent.

Soun responded with a shrug. She could step in if she wanted to.

"Stop this madness right now, Kosuke!" Kirika walked to her husband's side. "The best you could hope for is to be a friend and you are seriously endangering that possibility." Seeing Kosuke with the eyes of a combatant though gave her pause. He had certainly not been slacking off the last fifteen years, and though she was loathe to admit it, she had. Taking care of the house and three kids while managing the finances at her father's company left very little time for proper training.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Kosuke shook his head. "You're still telling me what to do, Kaa-san. Are you afraid of me? Did you forget how fearless you once were? How you refused to let anyone tell you you were second best? I can help you remember. I have lived with the Amazons of China. They have many special shampoos. It will be like we were never apart."

Kirika frowned. Chinese Amazons? Shampoos? None of it made any sense. But if anything that made her even more frightened. "We were never together, Kosuke! Not really. You just used me to get ahead in your stupid gang."

"_Our_ stupid gang, Kirika. We were partners. Co-leaders. We never let anyone screw with us, remember that? Remember how you met this wimp? What was he doing? Stealing _underwear? _And you beat him to within an inch of his life as I recall."

Soun's face reddened. Eleven years after he and Genma managed to get rid of that terrible creature Happosai and he still got the shakes whenever he was reminded of that time. Kirika put an arm on her husband's muscular shoulder. "You didn't see how strong he was. You were too busy organizing your gang war."

"He poisoned your mind against me," Kosuke grumbled sourly, " If you had been with me, we could have beaten them."

Kirika shook her head. "It wouldn't have mattered, Kosuke. If it wasn't that time it would have been some other time. Eventually reality would have caught up with us. That time it was against a gang using sticks and chains. Maybe if we kept on going it would have been against guns and drugs. If you hadn't gotten beaten the way you did. If your parents hadn't sent you to China…"

"I'd be married to you right now, instead of this underwear stealing creep!"

The muscles in Soun's shoulder shifted under Kirika's hand as he crossed his arms. "Look, that was a long time ago. We're almost twice as old as we were back then. Let's just put it all behind us. What happened in China anyway? We received a note about ten years ago saying you had died. Kirika was very upset. How is it you've turned up now?"

Kosuke stalked closer to Soun. "You have NO IDEA what I have suffered! "

"Get away from my father, you creep, or you'll be sorry!" Kasumi yelled.

"No, honey!" Kirika gasped, but the words were already out of her daughter's mouth. The atmosphere seemed to grow thick with tension. Time seemed to pass more slowly. Kirika whipped her attention back to Kosuke. He was glaring at Kasumi, eyes burning with hate. He lifted his shoulder slightly and Kirika tightened her grip on her husband's shoulder. She knew instinctually, in that instant, that Kosuke was going to attack. Even as she began to push Soun away she saw the glint of metal as as the sword was pulled out of its sheath.

Kosuke was fast. Too fast even for himself. Pulling out the blade and swinging it was accomplished in a single, rapid, fluid stroke. There was no way for him to stop the blade as it arced upward, inexorably toward Kirika's torso and through it. She saw Kosuke's eyes widen in horror as the blade tore through cloth,skin, muscle, and bone with equal efficiency. Her eyes moved slowly to her side so that she saw, rather than felt the blade exit out the other side. With the last strength of her arm, she pushed her husband away so that the blade wouldn't reach him. She began to hit the floor then. She hit roughly; having used her arms to push Soun away, they weren't available to break her descent. Not that it mattered. She was dead. Her body just didn't realize it yet.

Her body _was_ fast on the uptake though. Spots were already starting to form in Kirika's eyes as she watched Kosuke screaming at her. "No!" he cried. "I will not let you escape! You will be mine!" Even as she was watching her ex-fiance scoop her blood into a vial, she was already feeling delirium creep in.

Wouldn't it be funny, she thought, if she came back in ten years to kill Kosuke? That would be…ironic… she would miss Soun and the girls though. She didn't know where she was going but she would miss them.

"Love you," she gurgled through the blood in her throat, "Love you all."

No.

Wait!

She couldn't die!

She had to stay with them. Kosuke would kill them! She had to…she had to…

She realized she had been grabbing at the air even as all the strength went out of her. She slumped to the ground. She felt herself rising. She saw Kosuke chanting some sort of incantation over a vial while Soun and Kasumi held her body. She saw Nabiki and Akane crying outside the dojo. She saw children playing in a playground. They were calling each other names… She felt herself pulled…

~~~~~furo~~~~~~

_Kirika blinks. Her surroundings are familiar. It looks like her furo, but there's a young woman in the water with her. Kirika blinks again. "What…"_

_No. The voice is all wrong._

_The young woman is her daughter. It's Kasumi. Only ten years older. Kirika closes her eyes. _

_"What's wrong?" Kasumi asks. "Are you feeling faint?"_

_"M-maybe," Kirika opens her eyes and looks down at her body. A young body. Definitely female. Kirika lets out a sigh of relief. At least it can't be Nodoka's child. Nodoka had a son. "What were we just talking about?" Best to keep up with appearances. Hopefully she won't intrude on this young girl's life more than a few minutes, and she doesn't want to cause problems for her._

_Kasumi glares at her. "We were talking about my mother." She gets up out of the water. "I'm sorry. I can't handle this. I'm going to…I have to go if you're going to be like this."_

_Kirika gets up as well, "No, wait, don't go." She hates to see Kasumi mad at her. Even if it's selfish, she wants what few words she has with her daughter to be pleasant. It's strange having her daughter be taller than her though. "Please, tell me what happened after I…I mean…tell me what happened with Ko- with the man who killed your mother. Did he attack Soun or you?"_

_Kasumi lowers herself slowly to sit on the lip of the furo, wrapping her towel around herself as she does so. Kirika does the same. Kasumi gives her a strange look. Can she tell? "Yes…" she says slowly. "He did attack. But father was too fast. I think Father would have killed him, but Okata declared it a stalemate and ran away."_

_Kirika nods. "Good. And Akane and Nabiki were okay?"_

_"Yes? You know how they are, don't you? You've been living with us for two weeks now?"_

_"Oh, of course. Silly me," Kirika laughs nervously, "So did Okata ever come back?"_

_"No." Again there is a pause. Kasumi seems to regard her with a sort of confused suspicion for a moment, then she continues. " Far from it. I had to track him down."_

_Kirika frowns. "What do you mean?"_

_"I was the heir to the school. The day after we buried mother I made a solemn vow to take vengeance for her death." _

_"But you were only nine! " _

_Tiny blades protrude out of Kasumi's skin for a fraction of a second before they are gone again. "I wasn't stupid. I knew I would have to train before I went after him. Father was regrettably not available due to his grief. During the day, I took care of household duties while at night I trained at any place that would teach me."_

_"The Wheel of Eight Desires," Kirika whispers. She had wanted to save her daughters from that training, but the evidence is on her eldest's face. _

_Kasumi nods. "I knew what I desired most of all was vengeance, and so I forcibly denied myself any release from that desire. I would refuse to spar with anyone in case I might inadvertently get satisfaction from defeating them. I kept to menial tasks and tried not to engage with anyone. Eventually I found that trying not to talk to people causes them to get angry with you, and forces you into altercations, so I found ways of talking without talking."_

_Kirika shakes her head. "Oh, but that's exactly the wrong thing to do! You have to let out your desire in little bursts. Learn to control it. Otherwise…"_

_Suddenly there is a splash, Kasumi's arm is sprouting a dozen sharp edges and one is dangerously close to Kirika's neck. Her eyes are wide. Is she going to get killed again, this time by her own daughter?_

_Slowly, though, Kasumi retracts her blades. She lowers her arm, and looks down. "I know that now. I just don't know how to stop."_

_"You're a smart girl, Kasumi," Kirika smiles, "you'll figure it out. Just don't give up on yourself okay?"_

_Kasumi frowns. "Hmm. Are you sure you're okay? You didn't hit your head or anything?"_

_Kirika shrugs. She sighs. "Kasumi?"_

_"What?"_

_"This may sound strange, but would you mind if I gave you a hug?"_

_The look Kasumi gives her is something approaching fright. _

_"I know you won't hurt me," Kirika tells her. _

_Kasumi thins her lips. She gives a small, rapid nod._

_Before either of them can think better of it, Kirika hugs her daughter in a strong embrace. Tears start welling up in her eyes. She thanks the spirits for giving her this extra moment with Kasumi, even if it means stealing it from a living soul. Even now she can feel the other soul rising up again to regain control._

_"How do you do this, Ranma?" Kasumi asks. "How do you manage to make everyone hate you and love you at the same time?"_

_What did she call her? Ranma? But Ranma was a boy. This can't be Ranma's body. Kirika's fear is mixing with the fear of the owner of the body. _

_There's something feral there, waiting to take control. _

_The Wheel of Eight Desires again she guesses._

_ Kirika releases Kasumi gently and gets out of the furo before anything regrettable happens. _

_With tugs and jerks Kirika feels herself shoved forcibly down into the dark miasma of unconsciousness. _

~~~~~?~~~~~

_In the dark back room of a restaurant in China, a woman with severe features smiles at a glowing orb. "You thought you could escape," she says in a voice that's almost a growl. "But you are mine. We are destined, and not even death can change that."_

_The woman turns on a stove and places a kettle on it. She has lived long enough to know that success should be savored. She will wait for the water to heat up. Then she will change, emerging from the kitchen like a moth from a chrysalis …to murder her family. _

_Again._

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

Ranma looked at the scroll again.

The Wheel of Eight Desires

Air

...Pride

...-Desire to be free of resistance

...Lust

...-Desire to change oneself (by obtaining someone/something)

Water

...Sloth

...-Desire to follow the path of least resistance

...Greed

...-Desire to hoard

Earth

...Zealotry

...-Desire to support resistance

...Envy

...-Desire to change others (by obtaining someone/something)

Fire

...Wrath

...-Desire to create resistance

...Gluttony

...-Desire to consume

Ranma turned the scroll around in her hands, looking at all the symbols and words to try to get a better sense of it. She was feeling a tension throughout her body. There was a frenetic energy jiggling her insides.

Ranma put the scroll down. She stood up out of the bed. She realized what she was feeling, and she didn't like it one bit.

She was afraid.

She remembered Kasumi getting into the furo. She remembered her starting to talk about her mother and then…

Snippets. Small bursts of incredibly strong emotion. Something about the Wheel of Eight Desires. Something about death and sorrow. Something about pain.

And then she found herself on the floor of the furo room naked without any idea how she got there. Not knowing what else to do, she got dressed, and went to her room.

She had thought she might be able to figure out why she had blacked out from the scroll, but instead she just felt more lost. The mounting uneasiness had crept up on her while she sat. And now… she was scared.

She swallowed. "It's nothing," she told herself out loud. "I was taking a bath wasn't I? It was just the hot water messin' with my brain."

_Damn_, Ranma thought, _that should have sounded perfectly reasonable_. But it did not. There was something wrong with her. Something her fists couldn't save her from. She let out a guttural cry of frustration.

Ranma stiffened. The cry sounded like something a cat might make.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Kasumi was right. Her nekoken was getting triggered even without any cats around. She needed to see Akane. Akane could make her more calm.

Ranma remembered when Akane massaged her back. She had purred then.

She shook her head rapidly. _That was completely different. I was still in control then. I did that on purpose._

Ranma grit her teeth. She knew that wasn't true. She hadn't been in control then and she wasn't in control now. The only difference was that then she had someone she trusted with her.

Ranma nodded. She grabbed the scroll and left her room. Akane was still in the dojo, practicing a kata.

Ranma watched for a while. The kata suited Akane well. A lot of solid stances and strong attacks. She incorporated several jumping moves as well, yet somehow even these seemed precise, balanced, and unyielding. Watching her was like watching a sculptor carve into marble. For a moment, Ranma forgot her reason for being there.

"Awesome!" Ranma said after Akane was done. "That was. Wow, Akane that was…when did you come up with that?"

Akane blushed. "It's just some of my favorite moves put together. It's not pretty like what you do. And it's a little too fancy for dad. He's all about the basics. I just wanted to put the jumping I've been practicing with the other things I like."

Ranma shook her head. "Akane, you should fight like that all the time. You're usually so angry when you fight and you get so sloppy… I mean, no offense, but that was beautiful."

Akane frowned. "Thanks, I guess. But it wasn't beautiful. It was too rough and heavy. Too slow. There isn't any art to it. I'm just…"

Ranma put her hand on Akane's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "Akane. There are different types of Art. You aren't me. You aren't your father. You're you. And you're pretty cool…When you aren't stomping around like an angry gorilla."

"Hey!" Akane backed away scowling. "You're not exactly the queen of equanimity or anything."

Ranma looked down. She had a few of her own blow ups, it was true. "Fair enough. You've at least managed to keep from hurting anybody."

Ranma felt a warm arm around her shoulders. "She deserved that, Ranma. Even she says so. It all worked out. Stop beating yourself up over that."

Ranma viewed Akane's face. Her expression was sincere. But how understanding would Akane have been if Nabiki had been more seriously injured? If she had died? She shook her head. "Something's wrong with me Akane. Maybe the Nabiki thing is part of it. I don't know."

Akane removed her arm, but took Ranma's hand in hers. "What is it, Ranma?" she motioned for Ranma to sit down with her and Ranma did so. Akane's face was full of genuine concern. She was her friend. She was there for her. And Ranma had to ruin it by wanting to kiss her.

Ranma turned away. "I told you about how Kasumi attacked me, right?"

"I'm still finding that hard to believe, but yeah, I guess so."

"Remember about that scroll?

"The Tire of Desire?"

Ranma chuckled, but still kept from looking at Akane. "The Wheel of Eight Desires, yeah."

"She said your cat fist thingy might have something to do with that, right?"

Ranma's eyes drifted to Akane's hand on hers. "I'm blacking out. I did it for the second time just a little while ago. I can almost handle acting like…you know. But I can't even remember what I'm doing…"

"You need to see Dr. Tofu again," Akane stated.

"But we've got school, and work…" Ranma protested, looking at Akane's face in spite of herself.

"Go now, dummy, before he closes for the night. Or miss a day of school. It's not that big a deal. I'll take notes for you. This is too important."

Of course it wasn't school per se that Ranma was worried about.

Akane sighed and released Ranma's hand. "Look, I honestly don't know if it has anything to do with it, but I know I've been a little quiet recently. It's just that our conversation at Yui's the other night got me thinking."

Ranma searched her expression, but she wasn't sure what she saw there.

"I'm not a bisexual, Ranma. I like men. That day at Tofu's I was confused, because I had started to think of you as a man in a girl's body. But you aren't, are you?"

Ranma felt the tension returning, only for another reason now. She could hear part of her yell as if from a great distance, that yes she was a man. But that felt like a lie now.

Akane continued. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I kept trying to make you more like a girl. But I think, part of me just wanted to be with a man in a totally safe way. I may have unconsciously led you on."

Ranma got up abruptly. "So I'm too much of a girl now? "

Akane didn't say anything.

Ranma closed her eyes. "Akane, I've just about had it. I'm sorry we ever talked about this stuff, because it's made things way too weird. I know you've had guys all over you for a while, but just because I'm half lesbian does not mean I'm into you, okay? We're friends. That's it. That's all it's ever going to be. Just like we said a Tofu's."

"But, Ranma, that's great! That's exactly what…"

Ranma held up a finger. "Hold that thought? Because I'm a little irritated right now and I don't want to accidently kill you or anything." She attempted to compose herself. "I'm going to go see Tofu. I don't know when I'll be back. So goodbye." Ranma stopped in the doorway of the dojo to strike a pose. "Me and my incredibly sexy body are leaving."

It was a few minutes before Ranma realized she was running. And another minute before she realized she was running on all fours. She forced herself to stop and stand. Of course Akane was just a friend. Of course she wasn't going to be interested in anything more. Ranma didn't even really want anything more.

Except that part of her did.

~~~~~v~~~~~

Ranma blinked. She couldn't believe what Tofu had just told her. She was sitting on a cushioned stool in Tofu's office, the hot water in his electric thermos bubbling cheerfully in the background. Tofu had calmed her down quickly after she had gotten into the clinic, saying the black outs were probably something related to the curse she had given herself and that he might have a solution to the problem, but what he was saying was almost unbelievable. She turned to her father who was nodding happily. "I helped with the experiments myself, Son. This could work." Genma was calling her "son" again. She didn't like how that bothered her.

Dr. Tofu held up a hand to urge caution. "Your father's curse might work differently than yours. And when you drank the nyannichuan silt it may have changed how the trigger works."

Ranma squeezed her eyes shut. "Wait. Just…wait. How does this work again?"

Tofu nodded slowly and got up. "I'll get you some tea while I explain." After he retrieved a mug and some tea leaves, he started. "The Jusenkyo curse is triggered by water, right?"

"Yeah?"

"But the human body is seventy-five percent water. How is it that you don't continually de-trigger the curse, seeing as the body is naturally warm?"

Ranma shrugged. "Not warm enough, I guess."

"That's what I thought," Genma shook his head excitedly. "But Tofu tried pouring water that was the same temperature as blood and it turned me human again."

Tofu set the tea down to let it steep. "There could be other reasons of course, but what if it's the twenty-five percent that _isn't_ water that makes all the difference?"

Ranma looked at Tofu's and Genma's faces. She still wasn't getting it.

Tofu was beginning to look impatient. "Ranma, this tea I'm making for you… If your father was a panda, and I threw it at him, do you think he would change back?"

"Sure. That'd work." Such a thing had happened often enough for Ranma to consider herself something of an expert in the phenomenon.

"What if someone poured heated oil on him?"

Ranma smiled wistfully at the idea for a moment before answering. "Uh…I don't know, but…I guess it wouldn't do anything?"

Tofu smiled. "Yes! Precisely! Because even though the oil is hot enough, there isn't any water in it, is there?"

"Sure… But what does this have to do with…"

"Let me try," Genma said, stepping in front of Ranma. "There has to be enough water to trigger the Jusenkyo curse. But the Jusenkyo curse is a powerful force. It doesn't need to be very precise. It's like your dad. This other curse you've given yourself, on the other hand, this stupid water aversion thing, is manmade. It's relatively weak, so it needs to be more precise and tricky, like you. Now tell me, Son. When I beat you in a spar, how do I do it?"

"Beat me? Gee, pops, I don't know if I can remember back that far."

Genma crossed his arms. "How about yesterday morning."

"Hey! That was a fluke! If Nabiki hadn't been there I would have…"

"I used Nabiki to get you in a position where I could grab both your arms in a hold. I overpowered you."

It had been so humiliating. She had tried kicking, but she couldn't get a good enough angle. She couldn't move. She'd been helpless. She had begun to hear the sound of cats yowling… Ranma willed the memory out of her head. It was a fluke. She was the best. She just had to figure out how to make sure it didn't happen again.

"I still don't get it. How can Jusenkyo over power the other curse? They aren't even fighting."

"No, Ranma, your father's analogy is apt. The Jusenkyo curse is powerful, so there is considerably more leeway in getting it to trigger, while the other curse is weak. I suspect that all you have to do to turn male again is find something that's just dense enough so that the avoidance curse doesn't repel it, but that is still watery enough for the Jusenkyo curse to trigger."

Genma nodded "We worked all day looking for a suitable substance, but we finally found something, didn't we, Ono-kun?"

The young doctor produced a pitcher of a slightly cloudy liquid with little bubbles on the surface. "My mouth is so dry though now, I fear I may never recover."

"I think I may have recuperated some, Ono-kun," Genma said with an air of brave forbearance. He rose and moved next to the pitcher. "No sacrifice is too great for my son." He started to make sucking noises and positioned his head over the pitcher.

Ranma got up and backed away. "No way am I gonna let you pour that over me!"

Tofu and Genma started laughing heartily. Genma had to sit down on the gurney he was next to to gather himself. He and Tofu had apparently gotten friendlier in the last week or so. Goody goody.

Tofu recovered and held up a hand. "It's just a soap and water mixture, Ranma. A fifteen percent solution. Of course the soap starts out at its own dilution, so it it's difficult to say exactly how much solid matter is in there, but it didn't come from us, you don't have to worry."

Ranma edged closer. "You sure? It looks an awful lot like spit to me."

Tofu made an effort to make a more serious face. "If you look more closely you can see a rainbow swirl pattern"

It was true. Ranma could see the tiny oil slick patterns when she looked at the surface. "I don't get it. I wash my hair almost every day with shampoo and water, how come it never did anything?"

"Your father asked that too. My guess is that it's because you're either putting pure shampoo in your hair, or washing it off with pure water. Some of it probably does reach your skin once it's diluted enough, but not enough to trigger your curse."

Genma adjusted his glasses. "The water needs to completely surround a major chakra for the curse to trigger. The head chakra is very wide and so it takes more water to trigger there." It was a little strange to hear her father talk about chakras. He hadn't mentioned them since when Ranma was first learning how to control her ki. They were the areas where spiritual energy from the environment collected in the body.

"I prefer to call them nerve ganglia, but I won't quibble." Dr. Tofu picked up the mug from next to the thermos and handed it to Ranma. "Here's your tea."

Ranma sipped it tentatively. It was a little too hot yet. She eyed the pitcher full of soap water with a feeling of uncertain tension. Could the solution really have been so simple all along? And now that she had it, assuming it worked, did she want it? What would being a boy get her? What would she lose?

Then Ranma remembered. There was one thing she needed to do. And she needed to be a boy to do it.

Ranma resolutely set her mug of tea down on the counter. Then she picked up the pitcher and poured the contents over her head.

The once familiar, giddy feeling of expanding and of bones and organs shifting greeted Ranma. He was a he once again. And he suddenly deeply regretted his choice of underwear.

The gut wrenching pain and nausea crumpled him to the floor, his eyes wide as he grabbed his crotch with both hands. Everything seemed to be intact, it was just that the sudden interaction of certain areas of anatomy with certain tightly fitting articles of clothing produced a decidedly noisome sensation. Taking a few deep breaths, he managed to right himself. Things were still fairly tight, but despite the overall increase in the size of his body, his hips had actually lost a centimeter or two in width, which saved his area of interest from any lasting damage.

"Well, I suppose now we have an idea of what the water repelling curse was feeding off of," Tofu said somberly.

"What?" Ranma asked managing to maneuver himself into a sitting position.

Tofu reached for Ranma head and plucked a hair from it.

"Hey!"

Tofu held it in front of Ranma's eyes. The hair was bright red.

Ranma scrambled up to his feet. He looked at his ghostly image in the glass cabinet next to Tofu's book case. His hair was black. No. _Mostly_ black.

"You've had the newer curse for a little over two weeks now, right?" Tofu asked.

Ranma nodded slowly.

"That's about ten percent of the six month time table the lady who gave you the vial provided. It's seems that ten percent of your male body has been absorbed by the curse."

"But we've stopped it in time, right? He won't lose anymore of himself will he?" The worry his father expressed infected Ranma. He studied his features in the glass. His eyebrows were just a little thinner, his eyes, instead of being slate gray, were now a grayish blue. He could tell from the way his shirt hung off of him he had lost maybe a centimeter of width from his shoulders, maybe a centimeter of length in his torso.

"There is one way to find out," Tofu said. "Ranma, would you please step away from the display case?"

Ranma backed away and then looked at Tofu. The young chiropractor's glasses were glinting as he held a bucket of water. Very shortly after Ranma realized this, he found that Tofu wasn't holding a bucket of water any longer. The water was arcing gracefully toward him. He wanted to move out of the way, but there was no time. The water hit him coldly and wetly and spilled onto the tiled floor.

"What did ya have to do that for?" Ranma asked. He was cold. He was wet. He was still a he.

"The curse appears to be either broken or dormant," Tofu declared. "We've managed to interrupt its power source."

"You hear that, Son? You're cured!"

Ranma laughed nervously. "Cool," he said, shivering, "What's the catch, doc?"

Tofu shrugged. "You still have the Jusenkyo curse. If you get hit with hot water you'll be a girl again and the water avoidance curse might turn on again."

Ranma nodded, "Figured as much." He shivered again. "I need to change clothes."

Genma smiled like a cat that had swallowed several canaries, a sight that disturbed Ranma at a gut level. "I have some of your old clothes here in my pack."

"Great." Ranma picked up his father's pack and started walking toward the bathroom. He stopped. "Hey, how come the waterproof curse got more powerful whenever Akane or Pops touched me?"

Tofu rubbed his chin and looked down in thought. "Your father has a Jusenkyo curse. It might have been able to feed off of that. As for Akane though…" Tofu shook his head. "I have no idea. There must be something about her that the curse can feed off of, but I couldn't tell you what it is. Her effect is strong too, even stronger than the effect of your father. It's almost as if it were able to feed off of her directly, but I don't know how that could be."

Ranma nodded, frowning at the mystery. With a shiver, he slid open the door and left Tofu's office for the bathroom. He almost went into the women's bathroom. The bathroom where he had almost kissed Akane. She had wanted to kiss too. He knew she had.. But now she was saying she liked guys. _Well I'm a guy now, ain't I_ ? Ranma thought. But it wasn't that easy. What was he going to do, start fawning all over her? Act like one of her challengers? The thought disgusted him. He just wanted to be close to her. To help her out if she needed it, to feel like she'd help him in return.

No, he decided. That whole thing was a mistake. A completely separate thing. He wanted a friend, not a…kissperson. Not someone who just wanted some kind of erotic satisfaction. Still, if he could find someone who could be both…

He went into the men's bathroom. It smelled of urine. He sighed. He'd always been something of a neat freak and having cleaner restrooms was a subtle advantage of being a girl that he hadn't fully appreciated. He undressed, putting his wet clothes on the sink instead of the floor, where the drain in the center seemed to tell a woeful tale of the vagaries of men with poor aim.

He was pleased to see that aside from the abuse received from the restrictive underwear, the lower parts of his body had not been noticeably affected. Before he put on his boxers, he went to one of the stalls and enjoyed a quick pee standing up. You had to take the bad with the good, he supposed. Feeling a little better, he put on the dry clothes and gave himself another look in the mirror.

The changes weren't too bad, really. He especially liked the red in his hair. Far too complete to be a dye job, it looked like lava seeping out of the earth. Sure to turn a few heads, and yet it was more subtle then the wannabes who dyed their hair blond. Yep, Ranma decided, he may be nine tenths of the man he was, but if anything he was even more of a bad ass.

The thought made him frown though. If Tofu hadn't come up with the cure, he might have turned completely into a girl. And he might have just chalked it up to the vial not working properly. The Tasuke lady obviously wanted him to be a girl for some reason, but why? And why was Ranma suddenly feeling this strange déjà vu when he thought of Tasuke…like he had seen her somewhere before, before he had seen her?

Ranma pulled the vial out of his pigtail. He turned it in the light of the bathroom for a while, making its pearlescent surface reflect back in subtly different shades of color. He set it resolutely on the sink. "I don't know, and I don't care. I'm done with you, lady." With that, he gathered up his clothes and left the restroom.

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

Genma sat down on the waiting room couch. He and Tofu had moved there after Ranma left to change. It was past closing time and Tofu had to lock up. Genma marveled at the young doctor. So talented and only in his twenties. But he pitied the man too. There was a fragility there that came from growing up too fast. He didn't have a solid foundation. He hadn't failed enough in his life to know how to deal with it. "Have you reached a decision about Kasumi?"

Tofu's eyes found Genma's around his glasses. Then the young doctor looked down and sat across from him. "In short… no."

"You know you can't let her control you like that."

Tofu's head rose and he stared off at the bathroom where Ranma was changing. "She's a good kid. Honest. Ready to fight for what she believes in. She didn't deserve the flensing point. I don't understand why K-Kasumi would make me do that."

Genma frowned when he realized Tofu was talking about Ranma as if he were a girl, but he didn't want to sidetrack the conversation. "Kasumi was angry at him. What she did was petty and childish. That's all. Maybe she even realizes it now, but you can't just let it go. You have keep her from using you like that again."

Tofu shook his head. "We'd have to perform a ritual to undo the bond. She'd have to agree to it… and…" the young man sighed, leaning back in his chair. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I still love her, Saotome-kun." He looked up at the ceiling forlornly. "It doesn't make any sense, but if anything I love her more now that she's done this. How can I tell her I don't trust her? How can I ask her to undo our bond?"

Genma thinned his lips. "If you truly love her, you should love her as an equal. Not like an animal loves his master."

"Why not? Isn't love supposed to be unconditional?"

Genma looked away. "There are always conditions. Boundaries that should not be crossed. You trust the one you love not to cross those boundaries. The more you trust, the more you love. Without conditions, love is meaningless. You could as easily love a fencepost or a ham sandwich as a human being. If you don't let Kasumi know that she crossed a line, you're not only demeaning yourself, you're demeaning her as well." Genma grimaced. _ I should have stayed,_ he thought, _I shouldn't have signed that damn contract. I should have told her no._

A moment or of silence, then Genma heard rustling as Tofu stood. Genma looked up at him. "Maybe you're right. I should talk to her tomorrow," Tofu said.

Genma shook his head slightly. "Call her. Tonight."

Tofu gave a small nod, then went into his office. Maybe for a cup of tea. Maybe to think. Maybe to finally call the girl. Genma didn't know which.

There were heavy footsteps as Ranma trudged into the waiting area from the restroom hallway carrying his pack on his shoulder. He had a sour expression on his face. He barely spared a glance as he went to the genkan in front of the door and searched in the pack to retrieve his larger, male form shoes.

"Where are you going?" Genma called as he stood.

"I'm going to see Mom." Ranma put his shoes on and went out of the door.

"Damn it all," Genma growled. He hurriedly put his own shoes on and ran after his son. He caught up with him a block or so down the dimly lit street. "You're going the wrong way"

Ranma turned around without saying anything, his face in shadow from the streetlamp overhead.

"You remember what I told you?" Genma walked alongside Ranma as he passed. About how we left your mother back then?"

Ranma nodded grimly.

"You remember she made us sign a contract that you would be a 'man among men?'"

"Yeah, I remember."

"You realize that we're going to have to be careful about what we tell her and how we act? Even though you're a boy now, if she doesn't think you're manly enough, she'll force both of us to commit seppuku."

"I know! I still got to see her. "

Genma held up his hands. "Okay, Son. Okay." He let Ranma walk a few steps ahead of him. He closed his eyes for a moment. _Thank you, Son, for giving me courage._ After a full decade and almost six months, Genma was finally going home.

_Please, Nodoka, _Genma looked up at the streetlight he and his son passed under. B_e sane. Don't make us leave again._

~~~~~End of Chapter 11~~~~~

Authors Note:

As always, thank you for your reviews. I got some good critiques on Kasumi's behavior in the last chapter. I wanted to try to make her a little more understandable this chapter, but I'm not sure I've done that. She's a complex character. Maybe I should have kept her simple for the sake of the story, but her back story kind of ballooned out of control for me when I was working it out and I'm struggling to reveal it in little bits and pieces. There's still a good chunk to come as soon as I find out where to put it. I'm still honing my writing; so I welcome any suggestions. As I hint in this chapter, Nabiki has a major back story chunk too, which I can't wait to get into.

There's a good solid clue in this chapter as to the reason why scenes in hot water are written in present tense. It's related to the reason why all the pov characters have Jusenkyo curses. I think you can probably figure it out, but then, I know what's going on so I can't tell how easy it is to guess. At any rate, all will hopefully be made clear soon.

Ryoga should show up again in chapter thirteen, the way things are going. In the canon storyline, Ryoga shows up a week after he first shows up on Furinkan; that's a lot of time to get through and there was a little too much going on for me to try the "one week later" gag. Also, because it happens to work so far, my fanfiction chapters are going to loosely follow the manga chapters. So as long as I have Ryoga show up by at least chapter fourteen, I figure I'm doing alright as far as pacing is concerned.

Oh and for those of you who are looking for writing tips, one thing I learned with this chapter is that it's a very good idea to make outlines of the chapters you've already written. It saves a buttload of time when you're making continuity checks. A few chapters ago I started putting things into a rough timeline to keep everything straight and it really saved me this time. I made a last minute change to an important plot point in chapter eight and I had forgotten that I had altered it. It would have made things rather confusing for people who remember things. Here I just have to worry about feeling a bit embarrassed by an observant reviewer, but that sort of thing could cause a novel to be thrown across the room.

Thanks for reading!


	12. Slow but Sure

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ Fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 12: Slow but Sure

Disclaimer: If you have not already, please purchase the original source material by Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty Shogakukan and Viz media. This story is written without permission on kilobytes stolen from passing gnomes.

~~~~~Ch.12: Slow but Sure~~~~~

~~~~~?~~~~~

She has resurfaced, hasn't she?

Do not look so alarmed. I have been your husband these last seven years. I regard the well-worn paths your mind makes with affection and awe. Of course I know their topology, their seasons.

Shall I tell you, my love, my savior, why it is that you must kill me? Why it is that you must kill our child as well?

Oh I know you are aware of your own mind. I know you could tell me with no hesitation why you've spent these years with us, why you have even suffered the indignities of pregnancy and birth so that you could act on this moment. But I know also that this night, nay this very hour may be the last chance I have to speak to you, to thank you for the life you've given me. So let me speak, my love. Indulge me for a few moments while you prepare for your transformation.

I know that you do not love me. How could you? Me a worthless, Amazonian male. You a being so tremendous in power that the heavens quake with every change in your attitude, a being so cunning in subterfuge that even the gods are made impotent in the shadow of your artifice. You could have left me to die under that boulder and it would not have bothered you. The only reason you saved me was the amusement you felt when you thought I had called out your name, only to discover that it was not "Kosuke" I called, but "Tasuke!" "Help me!" I cried plaintively in Japanese, my weak voice breaking quaveringly over the mountainside, for as wretched as I am now, I was even more so then, before I met you.

I had already called out in Mandarin and Cantonese, and if Japanese had not worked I would have tried Russian and then English, for languages have always been a passion of mine and I spent many hours as a boy studying with the elders while my peers learned more violent skills. I had always considered even the practice of hidden weapons as being far too womanly. I never aspired to be anything other than a good husband to the woman I would eventually marry, and I knew when you lifted that boulder from my leg with such ease- using only one hand, with your eyes so fierce, so full of fire as too diminish the light of the sun- that you were that woman.

I did not know then that you had bathed in Jusenkyou's waters, and that the creature of such power and grace was not the form you were born to, but something you looked at as a curse. You were aware as I was that Jusenkyou picks its warriors at the moment of their birth, and that the forms it imparts are reflections of their hidden hearts. But you had a destiny that had to be fulfilled and that form made your path more treacherous.

This woman, Kazehito Kirika, she is such a fool. How could she think her marriage to Tendo Soun was valid? Was she not promised to you by your parents and ancestors, by all the spirits in attendance at the ceremony? Does she think something as mercurial as a heart's desire can change that destiny?

I know my place, my savior. I know that my time with you is short, but I have treasured our time together all the more because of it. I live on the edge of a rumbling volcano, warmed by the turmoil that seethes under the surface. I will welcome the lava when it comes.

You were so clever to use your connection to Jusenkyo to preserve Kazehito Kirika's soul in the body of Saotome Ranma. It proves you are as much a force of nature as Jusenkyo, ensuring that she will be yours. This restaurant that we have built and ran together, right along the path from the Bayankala Mountains that cradle the Jusenkyo springs, to the city of Shanghai that provides the most direct freight route to Japan, you have made it inevitable that any Jusenkyo victim from the land of the rising sun will be drawn to this place. And just as you had planned, Saotome Ranma arrived.

How could the child know that the vial you gave her, and I say "her" for her maleness is an unfortunate obstacle that you have expertly overcome, was the same vial you filled with Kazehito Kirika's blood? How could she know that the potion you gave her was carefully prepared to coax Kazehito Kirika out of her hiding place more quickly? Yes, despite Kazehito Kirika's attempts to delay her own ascension, you have found a way to bring her back to you in months instead of the years it would have taken otherwise. The male energy that has been keeping her dormant must have finally been subsumed.

And now I will share in your triumph as you plunge your blade into my heart.

But, my love, my savior, please grant me one request? Please kill me as you are now, as a woman, for as an Amazon it would make my death more honorable. Beyond this, my only hope is that Kazehito Kirika will finally be yours…and that she hasn't been stifled again in some way.

Please, do not put the knife down! I do not deserve your mercy! Why do you look into your sphere? Surely there can be no developments that have changed your course of action?

Your eyes are wide now in disbelief. Your brow furrows and it is like a dark cloud passing before the sun. The image in your sphere is of Saotome Ranma, but she is in her male form. Impossible!

No, my love, do not be angry. Even if she is male again, it will only grant her a temporary reprieve. Your will is inexorable and certain. She will not escape you.

Your hair is so cool and silky underneath my hand. Relax, let me massage your neck using the techniques the elders have taught me.

Yes, forget the kettle for now, my love. I will relieve your tension.

Come with me… to bed.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~~

In some ways, the house was something of a letdown. It was fairly large, but modest in almost any other respect. It wasn't a mansion, nor was it some abysmal pit in an otherwise abandoned slum. There was a door in the western style, and he and Genma were in front of it. Eventually, one of them would have to knock.

What kind of person was Nodoka, Ranma wondered. His father had told him she had gone crazy, forcing them to leave and sign the contract. But surely she couldn't have been that crazy when he had first met her, or for the five or more years they were together. Maybe she was okay now. She sounded nice on the phone.

Ranma still couldn't bring himself to knock and his father seemed equally nervous.

What if she wasn't nice? What if she looked at him and could tell right away that he was only nine tenths of a man. Or what if when she saw him…she didn't see a boy at all.

_I'm a guy now,_ Ranma told himself, _a guy._ But he felt uncomfortable, even vaguely irritated. Shouldn't he be doing cartwheels right now? Singing some made up song? Instead he kept thinking about Akane, and about school, and even about Kuno. How likely was he to step in front of Ranma and make orations about fiery hair and beatific countenances if he knew he was really a boy? Nabiki, strangely seemed to be the one most likely to accept him as a boy, but even there, would she still lend him her Sparrow cds? Would she still talk to him so freely about relationship stuff?

Ranma took a shaking breath. He should have given himself some more time to acclimate. Plan things out better. _She'll still be my friend,_ he told himself, _It's not like she doesn't know about me. She's not that shallow._ It wasn't a convincing argument, though. Really Akane _was_ that shallow. Maybe it was one of her faults, but damn it, Ranma had faults too. She was his friend and it wasn't fair that he'd probably lose her if he showed up male.

Another breath. The door loomed in front of him. Did he really want to see his mother? Did he really care that much? He didn't even remember her. She hadn't apparently cared terribly much about where he had been all this time. And she was going to want him to be a man. Just like his father had all his life. Be a man, Ranma. Stop acting like a girl. He wouldn't have minded so much, except he didn't see the point in it anymore.

He was here now, though, and he was not a coward. He swallowed, raised his hand, and watched his knuckles hit the wood of the door.

Ranma chuckled nervously to himself. It would really suck if she wasn't home.

He was just about to knock again, when there were sounds of lock disengaging and the door opened, slowly at first and then rapidly. The woman in the doorway gasped, her wistful, sad features moving quickly to surprise and then warming into a bright smile. "Ranma?"

Ranma nodded, a smile curving his lips as he saw bits of himself in the lady's eyes, her darker yet undeniably red hair, her nose. "Hi mom."

Saotome Nodoka turned to Genma, her eyes filling with tears. "You brought him home. After all these years you're finally back, and you brought him home!"

Ranma looked up at his father's face. He seemed oddly nervous. "We're staying somewhere else for now. I wasn't sure if…"

Nodoka's expression darkened for an instant, but then she smiled and turned to Ranma again. "Come inside and give me a hug sweetie. Oh it's been so long."

Hesitating for a moment, Ranma did as his mother asked, wrapping his arms around her thin frame, feeling the smooth silk of her kimono. He felt like he was an empty container, finally being filled. This hug was something he had missed without know he was missing it. He breathed in her faint smell of cinnamon and vanilla, trying to make the moment last forever .

Suddenly, Nodoka stiffened and Ranma released her frowning. "I'm glad you're back, son, but you mustn't hug me so desperately. It's unmanly."

Ranma's frown deepened as something turned to acid in his stomach.

"Did you fulfill our agreement, Genma? You should not have come here if you have not."

"I'm right here, mom," Ranma snapped. "And Pops told me about the contract. He also told me you were batso. I didn't think that was true."

Nodoka gave Genma a withering glance. She turned slowly back to Ranma, her face serious. "Are you a man among men, Ranma?"

Ranma felt a rush of adrenaline as he looked his mother in the eye. Then Ranma smirked the way he always did before a difficult battle. "No," he said, "I'm not. Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Nodoka tensed, her hand going suddenly to the hilt of her sword.

Ranma adopted a fighting stance.

A moment passed.

Nodoka swallowed visibly. She let out a shaking breath. She took her hand off her sword and turned away. "Have a seat, Ranma. I'll make you some tea. You too, Genma."

Relaxing slightly, Ranma found a low, Japanese-style table surrounded by cushions. He chose a seat at the corner nearest the door and sat. His father sat across from him.

The main dining room was roughly the same size as the Tendos, but where theirs had a bright, homey, lived in feel, Nodoka's was musty and dark. The darkness came from there being only one working bulb in the ceiling light. There was a roll top desk on the wall opposite the table, the wood it was made out of looked weathered and gray. Everything was clean, but at the same time it all looked old and lifeless. "Mom lives here?"

"It was a lot nicer when we were here," Genma assured Ranma.

He nodded somberly. "She must have been pretty lonely all this time, huh?"

Genma grimaced. "We should probably go, Son."

"She doesn't seem too bad so far."

"Was it true, what you said? Or were you just seeing what she would do?"

Ranma rubbed his thumb on the corner of the table. "I don't know. What does 'man among men' even mean? I just spent two weeks being a girl. It hasn't been too bad really." Ranma shrugged. "Mostly it was that she didn't think I should hug her. Damn it, Pops, if being a man means I can't hug my own mother than I don't want to be one! I'd almost rather have her saying I should commit seppuku then have to act like some unfeeling asshole every time I see her."

"Ranma, lower your voice! She can probably hear you!"

Ranma winced eyeing the kitchen where Nodoka was making tea, but he took a breath and shook his head "Good. Way I figure it," Ranma raised his voice, "she's either my mother, or some older lady who wants to kill me. Either way she should know where I stand."

Nodoka came in from the kitchen. She stood by the table, her eyes downcast. "I am your mother, Ranma. When I made you and Genma sign that contract, it was for your protection." She looked away. "And it was part of a promise I made to a friend."

"What?" Ranma stood up. "You made a promise to a friend to kill me if I turned into a girl?"

Nodoka's eyes drifted to Ranma's. She frowned in apparent confusion. "How could you turn into a girl? No, the contract was just to ensure you would be as manly as possible. I never thought my husband would take so long to fulfill it." Her eyes darted to Genma in a spike of anger.

Genma stood up himself. "You were threatening to kill me and my son! Did you think I was going to come rushing back into your arms?"

"I told you what happened, didn't I? I couldn't let that creep have Kirika. I couldn't let my son's soul get subsumed by a dead woman. His manliness was the only thing that allowed her to keep from possessing him completely. What should I have done?"

"No-chan, surely you have to know how you sound. It makes no sense!"

"How did you find out what happened to her? Did someone call you? Did you get a letter?" Nodoka crossed her arms. "No. I told you. And I heard about it through Kirika. She was talking through my baby's mouth. Her voice was coming out of his mouth, Genma. You have no idea how scared I was. How scared I still am."

Ranma's mouth was hanging open. Was he really hearing this?

"I have spent the last decade here, alone. And every year, every _day_ I've spent waiting for you to return, I've had such terrible nightmares. Of you returning without him. Of Kirika speaking through his mouth again only this time unable to go away. I've tried to track you down several times. I found out you went to China. So far away. I wanted to follow you there. To be a little closer at least. To maybe see Ranma from afar, to know that he was okay. But I didn't have money for the ticket. And I was too scared of what I might find."

"No-chan," Genma closed his eyes in a mix of pain and confusion. "I've never heard Ranma speak with any voice other than his own. There's never been any _trace_ of what you're talking about ever happening."

Ranma swallowed. For some reason he was thinking about the black outs. On the stairs with Nabiki. In the bath with Kasumi. He had felt so scared after the second black out. So scared it had triggered his nekoken. Why? He flinched at a fragmented memory of metal cutting into his side. Kasumi had been about to tell him how her mother died. Nabiki…had been talking about her mother as well.

Ranma backed away from his mother until his back reached the wall. He had a flash of memory. A disjointed scene from a nightmare. He was small and his mother was looking at him, frightened. His body was moving without him. A strange voice was coming out his throat. Ranma blinked. That was real. That was his mother. It hadn't just been a strange dream he had as a child. It was the scariest thing. Being helpless, unable to move, unable to speak, feeling parts of himself breaking away…

"Look at him, Genma! He remembers! Look at how scared he is!"

"I ain't scared!" Ranma snapped back in anger. "I was just a kid back then," he said, more quietly. "I ain't weak like that anymore."

Nodoka smiled sadly. "Then you have fulfilled the contract. You've become a man." She turned away. "I think the tea is ready. I'll go get it."

After his mother went into the kitchen, Ranma realized his father was staring at him. "What?"

"She wasn't hallucinating? Kirika actually…?"

Ranma grimaced. "I don't know,okay? It's just…I remembered something from back then and…I think it has something to do with the black outs."

Genma frowned. "You've been acting more like a girl recently." He spoke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I know!" Ranma winced. "I know," he said more quietly so his mother wouldn't hear. "That's probably part of it." He sat down, closing his eyes. He had to stop being a girl. He had to go back to being a man full-time. "Damn it, it ain't fair!" Ranma hit his knee with his fist.

"What isn't?"

Ranma's eyes went wide for a moment. He looked away from his father. "Nothing."

It wasn't that different than the other times he had to move. Once again he had just made friends, he had just about started something approaching an actual life, and he had to leave. Big deal, he had done it before. He wasn't going to just run away this time though. He owed it to Akane and the Tendos to say goodbye. He would be a girl for just one more day, and then he would be a man again full-time, for good. It was perfectly understandable that he would be upset about leaving the Tendos. Even though technically he didn't really have to leave. He didn't really even need to turn into a girl again. But no, that would make things easier and it would be better to have a clean break.

He was a man. He could avoid hot water without much problem at all. The curse was as good as gone. This was a good thing. So what if Tofu said that his curse was inverted, so that his girl form was the default and his male form was the curse. That didn't mean anything. Besides Tofu said that it was what he saw himself as that counted. So there was no problem, right?

Ranma took his cup of tea when his mother gave it to him and tried not to think about upending it over his head. He sipped the hot liquid gingerly and set the cup carefully on the table.

"So tell me, Ranma," Nodoka began as she sat down, "Do you have any girlfriends?"

Ranma's eyes went wide again. "Not really," he said.

Nodoka laughed. "What do you mean, 'not really?' You either have a girlfriend or you don't."

"Well, I have friends who are girls, but uh… they aren't, I mean I'm not…er…"

"That's fine, dear. Just be open to it. You can find love in the oddest places. Did your father ever tell you how we met?"

Ranma shook his head.

"It was at Soun and Kirika's wedding. He was the best man, I was the maid of honor…"

"Your mother was beautiful. I wouldn't tell Soun, but I thought she was even prettier than the bride. She had her hair longer then. Deep, dark red, but she had such delicate features."

Nodoka blushed a little. "My mother and my grandmother both loved red-headed gaijins. I used to dye my hair black to fit in better, but Kirika…"

Genma swallowed his tea. "I never knew Kirika that well, but she and your mother were very close. She had these striking, pale blue eyes. I used to think they were creepy."

Nodoka nodded. "She was bullied a lot as a child, and she couldn't just dye her hair like I could. She actually joined a street gang. One of the only girls in it. We had to work together in home ec and after we became friends, I learned to accept myself for who I was. I stopped dying my hair. I even took up Kendo, though I'm afraid I was never any good at it. I started too late."

"How come none of the Tendos has blue eyes then?" Ranma asked.

"It's genetics," Genma explained. "Having blue eyes is a recessive trait. Like red hair."

"Then how come…"

"I don't know, Ranma. Magic." Genma gave him a look of warning.

"I had a fifty percent chance of getting it and I won the coin toss," Nodoka said. "I'm not sure how you got it. I've never seen hair like yours."

Ranma took a sip of his tea. He studied his father for a moment, but he couldn't find anything on the older man's face but grim stoicism. Finally, he took a breath. "I got a curse in China. You should probably know about it."

"Oh?" Nodoka asked, looking at Genma pointedly.

"Actually," Ranma said, looking at his tea, "There's a lot of stuff you should probably know about."

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga followed the prison guard down the hallway of metal bars. "Saotome Ranma is here. You're sure of it?"

The guard nodded. "Like I said, he doesn't have a ponytail or nothin' but otherwise he matches your description. He's a real punk that one. Took ten of us just to get him into his cell. He's calmed down since then, thank the spirits. I almost feel sorry for him. Prison food's the best he's had in months, I'd wager." The guard unlocked the gate area and pulled it to the side with a grunt. "You got ten minutes. He's a crafty bastard, so watch that you don't get too close."

Ryoga cracked his knuckles in a mix of anticipation and frustration. He would enjoy seeing Ranma in a cell, but he wanted more. He wanted the bastard's blood on his fists. He wanted to hear the sounds of Ranma's bones breaking underneath the onslaught of his attack. He would just have to wait a little longer, just until he got out, and then he could relish the sound of Ranma's last gurgling breath as he looked up at him and knew that he had been defeated.

Ryoga walked up to cell 6b. A muscular man with unruly black hair tamed only partly by a white bandanna was doing one-handed pushups on the floor. When Ryoga stood before him, he rose to a crouch and then to a standing position in one easy motion. The kid was a machine. Even Ryoga was impressed. "Who the fuck are you?" he asked, a sour expression on his face. He had the look of someone who wore that expression a lot.

"I'm the man who is going to kill you," Ryoga told him.

The kid barked out a laugh. He crossed his arms and looked Ryoga over, slowly becoming more wary as he saw Ryoga's muscles and how he carried himself. "What, did I hit your parent's house or somethin'? I got no beef with you."

"No beef? You ruined my life!"

The muscular kid in the prison jumpsuit frowned more deeply. "I don't even know you, man. Get lost."

Ryoga struggled to control himself. "I know EXACTLY where I am, you coward! And you're lying if you say you don't remember me. Junior high wasn't that long ago."

"Junior high? Shit, I never went to no junior high. Certainly not whatever poofy dick up your ass school you went to." The crude prisoner, who Ryoga increasingly suspected was not Saotome Ranma, casually began doing pull-ups from the top of the wall of bars.

"You never went to Junior high?" Ryoga asked, letting the aspersion against his sexuality go for the moment.

"Fuck no. Haven't been to school since sixth grade."

Ryoga was fully confused now. He stifled a yawn. He had spent a lot of time and energy trying to find the prison where they were keeping Ranma. This had to be it. This had to be Ranma. Was this just a trick? "Don't think you can fool me, Ranma. Just because you don't have that stupid ponytail anymore, and your face looks different, doesn't mean…"

The prisoner paused halfway through a pull-up. "Wait. You're looking to kill Ranma? Saotome Ranma?"

"Yes!"

The man in the cell rolled his eyes and lowered himself to the floor. "My name's Kumon Ryu. I'm just using that punk's name to try to throw some of my shit his way. I'm after his daddy."

"My name's Hibiki Ryoga," Ryoga said slowly, still not sure this wasn't some prank. "It seems we may have a common enemy."

Ryu gave a dark smirk. "Looks that way." He looked around, stretching his arms. "Well, I guess I've been in here long enough. Time to bust out." The prisoner backed up a few steps, then, in a voice that was unnaturally loud, he yelled "MOVE!"

Ryoga was unable to follow the command, stunned by the sheer volume of it. The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground, a circular section of heavy prison bars on his chest. The prison guard reached for his mace can and stepped forward, but Ryu nailed him in the temple with a haymaker and the man slumped to the ground like an open sack of salt.

Kumon turned to Ryoga, who was just getting back to his feet. "You coming?" he asked.

Ryoga nodded but he wasn't at all sure it was a good idea. He took a moment to check on the prison guard. He was breathing. "Sorry," Ryoga whispered, and then left before he could lose track of Kumon.

They were already out of the building before the sirens started wailing.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

They were in a department store amidst a small copse of circular clothing trees when his mother held it to Ranma's chest."Mom!" Ranma protested in horror.

"What? I think you would look very nice in this." Nodoka held the garment beside Ranma as they both looked in the mirror that hung from the column in the store.

Genma was innocently looking at the prices of things a meter or so away.

"Mom, that's a turtle neck. It's not even cold anymore. And it looks stupid." Ranma winced at how mean he sounded. He didn't mean for it to come out like that, he just wanted to be done with all this.

"No son of mine is going to run around town looking like a ragamuffin. This would give you a sophisticated look. It is a little out of season, but that's why it's on clearance."

Ranma looked up in exasperation for a moment. Who's bright idea had it been for them all to go shopping? "Fine," he sighed, "Maybe I can use it for a disguise or something."

Nodoka seemed to be inordinately pleased as she added the turtle neck to the growing pile of clothing in her cart. Ranma didn't know why she was so happy. It wasn't like she could afford any of it. The only reason she still had the house was because of friends paying her bills for her.

Last night, Ranma had told her all about the Jusenkyo curse and the other curses. She had taken it fairly well, considering. She insisted she cook dinner for them, even though she didn't have much in the refrigerator save for some random vegetables and some rice. It tasted great regardless. Then she insisted that they stay the night. Breakfast had been better than supper had been. Nodoka had gone out early to go to the market for some eggs while Ranma and Genma trained. After they ate, Ranma had felt too anxious to stay in the house, but he also didn't want to leave his mother yet. School was out of the question unless he turned himself back into a girl, which he wasn't going to do with Genma watching all the time, so Ranma suggested they all go out, and that's how they wound up in a department store, looking at clothing.

And here Ranma thought he wouldn't have to worry about that crap if he stayed a guy.

"Red's your favorite color?" Nodoka asked as she perused through another rack. "I notice you wear it a lot."

"Yeah, I guess," Ranma said. "Never really thought about it."

Nodoka smiled softly. Her expression drifted a little, though as she said, "Kirika always wore a little blue somewhere. It called attention to her eyes."

"You don't have to worry, Mom," Ranma assured her, "I'm just going to say goodbye to my friends, then I'll be a guy full time."

"You're a lot like her," Nodoka said. "I know why her soul found itself in you. But you aren't her, and I'm so glad for that."

Ranma got closer so he could hear her as her voice got softer.

"I wish I could have been there for you these past ten years. But I'm glad for that too, now. If Genma hadn't taken you away I wouldn't have had the perspective I do now. I would have been so worried about all the similarities that I wouldn't have appreciated the differences." Before Ranma knew, Nodoka had an arm around his shoulders and was pressing her lips into his hair.

"Mom!"

"I'm not worried anymore. You are your own person, Ranma. That was all I ever wanted from you." Nodoka sniffed, touching the corners of her eyes gingerly. "If she ever talks to you. Please tell her I forgive her."

Ranma nodded slowly. A lump was forming in his throat and his eyes were beginning to burn, but he was damned if he was going to cry in his guy form.

They eventually got out of the department store, and after checking out a few other places, they ate at the Hot Dog and Coffee for lunch. When they were done, Ranma got up from his seat across from his parents in the booth. "I have to go. I'm going to be late for work."

"You're going to work?" Genma asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ranma grimaced. "I'm going to change first, Pops. If I show up like this, the guy will think I'm nuts."

"You could just say you're your brother or something."

Ranma thought about it for a second, but shook his head. "I got friends at work too, Pops. I just want to say good bye to them, and I can't do it like this."

Genma swirled a french fry around in his ketchup as he grumbled, "Fine. But you better be back to normal by tomorrow. I don't want to see any more red in your hair."

"I know, I know." Ranma turned to his mother, "Bye, Mom. I'll be back tomorrow okay?" And with that, he left to go.

"Wait! Ranma?" His mother called.

Ranma stopped and turned around. "What?"

Nodoka managed to scoot elegantly out of the booth and stood, straightening her kimono. "I want to see it. Your other form."

Ranma checked Genma's expression, but he was a study in stoicism. "Mom…I…"

"As much as your father might not like it, your other form has obviously become part of your life."

"Yeah, but after tomorrow I…"

"I already missed so much, Ranma. I just want to see what you've been going through."

Ranma sighed. "This ain't some sneaky trick to try to get me to commit seppuku is it?" he half-joked.

Nodoka closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, Ranma. I won't do that to you again."

Ranma shrugged. "Fine. Actually it would help out a lot if you could check the restroom for me to make sure no one's in there."

Nodoka nodded slightly, and Ranma followed her to the restrooms, waiting outside the door as the older woman checked for occupants. After a minute or so she opened the door smiling softly as she said it was all clear.

"What is it?" he asked as he followed her inside.

Nodoka shook her head. "When you were younger, before you left, I didn't want lose track of you, so I would take you with me into the women's restroom. I remember when you first realized there was a separate place for boys. You threw such a fit."

Ranma felt heat come to his cheeks. "Yeah, well, I didn't ask for this." He went to the sink and turned the hot water on, feeling with his hand to make sure it was hot enough. It wasn't quite there yet so he had to wait. He leaned back on the sink and looked at his mother underneath the fluorescent lights. She looked younger than he would have expected from how old his father was. She looked thin though. Even frail. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"Sorry? Why should you be sorry?"

Ranma looked away. "It ain't like it was my fault or nothin'. But I wish I could have been here for you. Maybe if I raised more a fuss with Pops beforehand…"

Nodoka put a light hand on Ranma shoulder. "Ranma, don't. We're together now. There's only one person who's truly at fault here and he's hidden away in China somewhere."

"Who's that?"

"Oka Kosuke. The man who killed Kirika." Nodoka looked as if she tasted something bitter. "He fled Japan after an assassin started tracking him."

Ranma felt the heat coming from the water in the sink, but he wanted to know more, so he turned off the tap. "He's still alive?"

Nodoka sighed. "I shouldn't have said anything. I just don't want you to feel guilty."

"Mom, this is the guy that killed Akane's mother! Maybe I can do something."

Nodoka shook her head. "It's just gossip. Things I heard from people at the market. They were saying he had ties to three rival street gangs, that he was doing some kind of drug trade. I don't know how much if any of it was true."

"What about the assassin? Could they have gotten him?"

"It's possible," she said in a way that suggested she didn't believe it was possible at all. "What I heard was that Oka had sent someone to pay somebody off with a suitcase of money and an assassin mistook the courier for the man himself. It was something of a story since no one knew for sure where the suitcase had gone off to. Everyone was looking through dumpsters like it was buried treasure." Nodoka crossed her arms. "After that there was a news report about one of Oka Kosuke's known aliases being used at the airport. Apparently he had gotten on a plane to China using a forged passport. A flight attendant made the connection, but it was too late to stop him. He was wanted by the police for Kirika's death, but apparently they didn't want him that badly."

Ranma turned on the tap again. He cupped his hands under the stream and splashed the water onto his, now her head. She looked into the mirror. "I want to kill him," she said.

"No, honey, you don't. That man, if he's still alive is too powerful, and…"

Ranma turned around.

"Oh! You're gorgeous!" Nodoka brought a hand to her mouth in astonishment.

Ranma frowned, feeling mixed emotions at the praise when she really wanted to argue more. Finally she smiled though. "Of course, I am. I got good genes."

Nodoka touched Ranma's pigtail. "I remember when my hair was this bright."

Ranma looked at her shoes. "I thought it was from the curse."

"It must have just brought it out somehow."

Ranma looked up at her mother. "Were you short too?"

"No, honey," Nodoka smiled, "That's from your father's side of the family. You should see his mother. Tiny woman."

"I'd like that." Ranma said a little wistfully.

Nodoka nodded, then she frowned. "Your eyes are blue though. Like hers."

Ranma looked down, feeling a little weirded out by that. "I have to go, Mom. I need time to talk to Akane before work."

Nodoka nodded and let Ranma rush past her, but just as Ranma got to the door, she heard "Ranma, wait."

Ranma turned around. "Yeah?"

"Nothing. I just... have a good night tonight okay?"

"Sure. Thanks, Mom." Ranma left the bathroom. She stopped in the outside hallway though. Was there something else her mother wanted to say? She turned. "I'll call her after work." Turning back she left, saying a quick goodbye to her father before she left the Hotdog and Coffee.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Kumon knew where he was going, and so Ryoga was obliged to follow him, even though he was sure they had made a few wrong turns. "Shouldn't we have taken a boat?" he suggested.

"No, dumbass. Why the fuck would we take a boat? You said the Tendos were in Tokyo, right?" Kumon had broken into a sports and apparel store and stole himself some camouflaged trousers and a black tank top along with some combat boots and some supplies. He walked right in the front door, stole what he wanted off the rack and when the owner protested he just yelled something impossibly loud, and cold cocked the poor guy. Ryoga had no choice but to run after him as the police gave chase behind them. They had lost them in the woods and Kumon changed in the quiet afterward. Now they were on their way to the Tendo Dojo.

"I always take a boat to go to Tokyo."

"We're on Honshu already! You like the ocean or something?"

"No, but…it's a short cut."

Kumon whirled around and smacked Ryoga across the temple, too fast for him to dodge. "Shut the fuck up. Were almost there now anyway."

Ryoga rubbed his temple as he walked past the last copse of trees on the hill they were on. The lights of Tokyo shone in the night like restless spirits keeping vigil. He didn't like Kumon. He didn't like that the kid was so rude and seemed almost without morals. He liked even less the fact that he was faster and stronger than him. The last twelve hours or so it had felt like he had been tethered to a launched missile. He wasn't sure anymore whether he was just following Kumon to find Ranma or if he was hoping to minimize the damage of the inevitable explosion.

Kumon started running toward the city again, and Ryoga followed him down the slight decline. Soon their feet were hitting concrete instead of grass and they were racing the cars through the intersections.

"Where in Tokyo are these people, man?"

"Nerima ward," Ryoga answered, feeling oddly as if he were betraying somebody. He didn't know who that could be. Not Ranma surely. He wanted to kill him, right? Maybe it was himself. Usually it took so much longer to reach his destination. There was more of a build up of anticipation. It seemed less…rash.

"You got a street address?"

Ryoga told him, still not liking it at all. He wasn't stupid. He knew how to use a phone book. The only way he knew to get there, though, was to follow Kumon through the byzantine Tokyo streets. Several times he was tempted to keep running in the same direction when Kumon turned left or right, missing the feeling of autonomy he was used to. Kumon stopped to consult a map only once to find a path to the Tendo dojo, and then he just moved. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to tell where he was and how to get to where he wanted to go. Ryoga was really beginning to hate the bastard.

When they got to the entrance of the Tendo residence, Kumon let out a low whistle. "Nice place. The Tendos must be loaded."

Ryoga had to admit, it was impressive. Although the house itself wasn't much larger than his own childhood home, the yard was spacious and well kept. The koi pond in particular, with its souzu knocking periodically against the stone, gave the place a marvelous air of tranquility.

"Shit, this place might be worth it even if the Saotomes aren't here!"

Ryoga wanted to punch the disgusting smile off of the bastard's weasely little face. He was going to steal from them! "They never did anything to you," he grumbled out loud before he could stop himself.

"YES THEY DID!" Kumon yelled. Ryoga found himself in shock, unable to move as Kumon's hand wrapped around his throat. "That bitch you spoke to? Nabtitties? She's covering for them. And if they are staying here then that can only mean her whole family's harboring those murdering bastards. They all deserve to die. ALL OF THEM!" Kumon's eyes were deadly fierce for a moment. Then he seemed to calm down. He let go of Ryoga, brushed off his clothes and looked to the house. "That's too troublesome though. I'm just going to rob them. " Kumon looked back over his shoulder. "That okay with you, officer?"

Ryoga didn't say anything.

Kumon grinned and strode toward the house.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

"Don't lie to me, Ranma," Akane nudged her as she put away the dishes from her last table, "you're a little happy about this, aren't you?"

Ranma felt some heat rush up to her cheeks. "Maybe. I'm just not sure how I'm going to break it to Pops."

Nishikigi, in his typical stand-offish manner, had informed Ranma that if she wanted to quit, she had to give two weeks of notice or she would have to pay for the lost income as stipulated in their contract. He then asked her what she wanted to do.

Ranma said she'd have to think about it.

Akane was giggling about it through their whole shift. "You know, if you really wanted to leave, you could just do something to get yourself fired," she said, smiling as she glanced at Ranma askance.

Ranma stiffened, pausing before leaving to put up the chairs. She swallowed and continued her trajectory. The idea of trying to get fired was anathema to her. She wasn't sure how much of that was pride and how much of it was because Akane had a point. She had been so sure that this was going to be her last day as a girl. But all that assurance went away as soon as someone gave her the lamest of excuses. She should at least go ahead and file her notice, she thought, but if she was going to work for two more weeks why not more?

She realized she was putting the chairs on the tables at a normal speed instead of her usual frenzy and decided that she had another reason to quit. The job was beginning to bore her. It was somewhat fun when Akane was making mistakes all the time and Ranma had to think fast to save her from one debacle or another, but now things were getting depressingly easy. Not to mention she was missing out on the classes her father and Soun were teaching .

Nodding at having reached a decision, she finished putting up the chairs at her usual pace. Akane met her on the way to the lockers. "I'm giving notice," Ranma said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'll stick around for the next two weeks, but that's it."

"Mmm-hmm." Akane didn't seem too impressed.

"Look it's not just Mom, it's the black outs. What if they happen at a really bad time, like during a fight or something?"

Akane shrugged. "If I were having black outs and the only sure way I knew to stop them was to turn into a man and leave all my friends, I kind of think I'd rather deal with the black outs."

Ranma pulled off her uniform and pulled a hanger from the locker. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, Ranma." Akane said doing the same, "I guess you're in a completely different situation." She still seemed to be incredibly amused.

Ranma's cheeks felt flush again. "It doesn't matter. I'd quit anyway. I'm getting bored here."

"Oh, I know!" Akane enthused with a sly hint of sarcasm, "it's almost as if it's a job or something!"

"Do you have to keep mocking me, you big tomboy?"

"I wasn't mocking you, you ditz. This is mocking you:" Akane puffed out her chest and lowered her voice. "I can't keep working at this job because I'm a man and I've got to go do manly things like leave to go live with my mother."

Ranma couldn't help but chuckle at Akane's rendition. "It's not like that, Akane, I haven't seen her in ten…"

Akane held up a hand, her face suddenly serious. "I get it, Ranma, I do. But don't you think you're making this harder than it needs to be?"

Ranma shook her head, "The curse from the vial…"

"The one that Tofu might have already broken?"

"He might have, but I don't know, and if it's still in effect it's going to feed off my male form every time I'm like this. If it goes on too long I might be a girl forever."

In a small voice, Akane asked, "Would that be so bad?"

Ranma frowned, not finding the words to answer right away.

"I mean, if you just chose to be a girl, wouldn't that make your life easier?"

Ranma shook her head. "Akane, if you chose to give up cooking, wouldn't your life be easier?"

"That's different!"

"How?"

"Because I _want_ to know how to cook!"

"Yeah? Well I want to be a man, so there!…I mean I want…to continue being a man." Ranma tried to correct herself.

Akane took a breath through her nostrils. "Then why, in the nine hells, didn't you just quit and walk away?"

Ranma didn't know what to say.

"Ranma, honestly, being a girl or a boy shouldn't be a goal you're trying to achieve. It should just be part of who you are."

"Yeah, well part of me is a guy. And I don't want to lose my guy part."

"Are you listening to yourself? If part of you is a guy, then what is the other part? And why are you so ready to get rid of it?"

After a moment of trying to reply Ranma settled with "You still can't cook."

To which Akane came back with, "And you're still a ditz!"

As they left the restaurant, Ranma let the conversation marinate in her brain. It fit with what Tofu had told her. It even fit with what Tasuke had told her back in China. Yes, part of her was guy, but could she really deny that part of her was also a girl? Maybe at first it was just a curse, but now? And she was going to give it up why? Because her parents wanted her to? Because she was a martial artist and she was used to pain? Because she was used to being alone?

And what right did Genma have to tell her who she could be? She was actually getting herself angry over this and she only barely knew why. "Crap, I really am a girl," Ranma muttered.

"What's that?" Akane asked. They were on the last stretch before home.

"Nothing, just thinkin' out loud."

"Oh, is that why you've been so quiet?" Akane stuck out her tongue.

"Hey! I'm still your sensei, you know."

"Sure," Akane allowed, "but you're one of those cool senseis that let me get away with stuff."

"Well, I'm going to lose my cool pretty soon if you keep giving me lip, young lady."

"Okay, I'll be good, Mrs. Saotome, I promise."

Ranma chuckled lightly. Her mood cooled again though, when the house came into view. She would have to come up with a new plan soon so she could face her father with it. And she just realized she had forgotten to give her notice at Yui's Yakitori. And who were those two strange-looking guys having tea with Kasumi and Nabiki?

Ranma asked Akane, but all she could do is shrug. "Friends of yours maybe?"

Ranma crossed her arms. "I don't have any friends, remember? Other than you and maybe some of the people we know."

"Maybe it's Ukyo, or that guy you knew in junior high."

"Hmm, they're both male; so that rules out crazed, homicidal Amazons." Ranma shrugged. "How bad could it be?"

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

This was shaping up to be the worst day of Ryoga's life, and he had been keeping track. Of course there were different criteria he could use. If he went by how miserable he was, the top contender was the day he got cursed. But if he was measuring by the day with the most momentous unfavorable consequences it was the day he showed up to his challenge with Ranma, only to find out that he had gone off to China. This day was climbing the charts on both rubrics and it seemed like it was only going to get worse.

Kasumi was obviously a nice person. An angel as far as he could tell. And Nabiki, well, she wasn't nice but she was nice-ish. And both of them were extremely attractive. If he could just get Kumon to leave, he could maybe convince one of them of how rotten Ranma was and how all he wished was to right some of the many wrongs done to him by the smarmy punk bastard.

But there was Kumon using crude gangster language with almost the same kansai twist that Ranma used to use, only worse. And he looked like he might lash out at any minute and kill somebody. And Ryoga wasn't at all sure if he could stop him. He kept thinking that maybe he should attack him preemptively, but he felt like he didn't have any momentum. He couldn't just lash out at the man without provocation he had to work up to it. Also he wasn't sure if his hosts would approve of such violence in their dining room. He might also end up dying himself for his troubles, and, while he wasn't at all, in any way, the least bit afraid of that, it wasn't something to take lightly.

Currently his strategy was to attempt to convey to Kasumi through various facial expressions that Kumon was a bad guy and that she should find a way to poison him, preferably with something untraceable, but really anything would do.

"Oh would you like some more tea?" she asked him.

"No," he started, "I mean…I guess… sure. Yes please." Ryoga hoped that she didn't poison his cup of tea by mistake. But then who was he kidding, she probably wouldn't be poisoning anybody.

"Look, this is real fucking swell. Honest it is. But my associate and me, we ain't gonna leave until you tell us where to find the Saotomes."

"I'm afraid we don't really have much room," Kasumi told him. "You'll have to sleep on the floor somewhere. And I'm afraid we are low on money so we would request that you pay for room and board."

"You're not hearin' me. I ain't paying shit, bitch! I know you're hiding them somewhere. Where the fuck are they?"

There was a loud –TAK- as Tendo Soun placed a piece on the Shogi board. Drinking his hopefully unpoisoned green tea, Ryoga eyed the suspiciously familiar looking panda the man was playing with to see what its move would be. It looked like knight to rook seven. A risky maneuver, but impressive for a zoo animal.

"Listen," Nabiki spoke coolly. "I don't have my sister's patience. We're not telling you anything so just leave, or will call the police."

"HA!" Kumon barked a little too loudly, but not with the full effect of his technique. "You think I give a shit about some dumbass cop?"

"We're home!" A cheery voice called from the front porch. Ryoga turned to see two more beautiful girls walk in. One with long hair so black it almost looked blue in the light, and the other, shorter, but shapelier with red hair in a pigtail. What was this, a beauty convention? Ryoga would have thought that having this many pretty girls in one space would have broken some law of the universe or something.

"Welcome home!" Kasumi called out in response.

"Hey, Akane," Nabiki greeted them, rising to a standing position. "Did you and Megumi have a fun time tonight?"

Both girls looked confused.

"Yes, we have some guests tonight," Nabiki explained, "This is Hibiki Ryoga and Kumon Ryu. They both have vendettas against the Saotomes and were hoping we might help them."

The dark-haired girl's eyes widened, and then she smiled, hugging the red-head closer to her "Oh right. Me and Megumi had a blast. Though we mostly spent the time in a restaurant talking."

"Who's Megumi?" the redhead asked.

"You are, you ditz!" The long-haired girl, who was apparently Akane, pushed Megumi playfully.

"Oh! Okay. Right. Yeah, we had a blast." Megumi had a slightly crazed look about her though. Maybe the girl had too much alcohol or something. "Hey, I…er… know the Saotomes. What's your problem with them exactly?"

"Saotome Genma killed my father," Kumon spat.

Not to be out done Ryoga said, "Saotome Ranma ruined my life."

"Did I, now? I mean did she…he." Good grief, the girl sounded like she was having a stroke or something! She had to be really soused.

"Are you okay?" Ryoga asked. "Do you need some water or anything? Your sister has tea made."

"Yeah, some tea would be good. You have enough for both me and Akane…big sister Kasumi?"

Kasumi nodded.

"Cool." Seeming suddenly completely sober, Megumi sat down across from Ryoga between where Nabiki and Kasumi had been sitting. Megumi's eyes were a deep blue and seem to bore holes into Ryoga's soul as she spoke. "Alright. Now how about telling me a little more about these vendettas of yours. If your stories are good enough, I might even help you."

"We already wasted enough time explaining ourselves, bitch. Just tell us where to find them."

Megumi leaned back and yawned as Kasumi placed a cup of tea in front of her. "There's something this guy I know from school keeps saying. This kind of reminds me of it. 'The vengeance of heaven is slow but sure.' I don't know. Maybe you guys should just let heaven take care of this one."

Kumon stood up, "Maybe we should just kill you, and let heaven take care of your face!"

Ryoga had enough. In one motion he rose and punched Kumon in the solar plexus with a heavy left hook. The idea was to leave the bastard breathless and stunned, so that Ryoga could attack again before Kumon could use his special move. Before Ryoga could attack again however, there was a loud -SMACK- and a wooden sign smashed into Kumon's head, creating a small shower of splinters. Kumon crumpled to the floor.

Ryoga looked up to see that it was the panda who had wielded the sign."Uh...thanks?"

The panda seemed to make a thumbs up gesture and then sat back down to its game of shogi.

"Oh, the poor boy must have been exhausted!" Kasumi exclaimed, grabbing Kumon by the wrists. "I'll just take him into the kitchen and tape him up so he doesn't hurt himself when he wakes." The tall, willowy girl then dragged Kumon into the kitchen as easily as a child might drag a sled.

Ryoga sat slowly back down trying to come to terms with what he just saw.

"So you going to tell me what your deal is," Megumi asked through a yawn, "or should we just call it a night?"

Ryoga looked up at the beautiful red-headed girl asking him about his story. He let out a breath, relieved that, at least for the moment, he didn't have to worry about what Kumon was going to do. Maybe the day wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"No," Ryoga said, "I'll tell you." And he did. At first he faltered, but eventually his story picked up pace once he found the right place to start. He started at the beginning, when he was first bullied for knowing Rhythmic Gymnastics and he continued, because there was something in Megumi's eyes that told him that what he said mattered. That she cared.

~~~~~End of chapter 12~~~~~

-Author's Notes-

4/16/11

First, as always, thanks to everyone who reviewed this fic. You guys are awesome.

What follows is a sort of behind the scenes bit. If you like to look behind the curtain read on, but if you're one of those people who like things mysterious, or you just don't give a crap about what I think, feel free to skip.

STORY LENGTH

I did try to make a ten page chapter, honest, I did, but it just doesn't work for me. I suppose I could split this into two parts and release them a week apart or something, but that seems kind of silly. And I didn't feel right about posting the first half until I was sure it would fit with the second half. I consider each chapter a sort of stand alone story and until I knew how it was going to "conclude" it just didn't feel right to let the first part go. So sorry to those of you who like smaller chapters, but that's how it is.

Slow but Sure

The title from the chapter comes from the Kuno quote of course, but it also relates to each of the pov characters...sort of. I suppose the fact that each character is ironically going against what they have ostensibly set out to do isn't quite "vengeance" but I'm taking the the interpretation that perhaps the vengeance of heaven is the way that life takes our plans and uses them against us without us even realizing, and that sometimes, this is a good thing.

Kosuke "Tasuke" Oka

So just to make it perfectly clear, this story is actually from the perspective of Kosuke Oka, the main antagonist of the story. Kosuke can see anything that any Jusenkyo victim sees, and if they are in hot water, he/she sees it in real time (AKA present tense). This makes this fic a bit like Inspector Gadget. Kosuke is like the Claw, and Kosuke's husband is like the Claw's cat.

Nodoka

I'm glad I can finally reveal what happened here. Ranma's parents are both somewhat enigmatic. Genma seems to genuinely care for Ranma, and yet he does some awful things. It's the same really with Nodoka. In canon, she never sees Ranma in male form except for glances. She think "ranko" is a completely different person and is constantly wanting Ranma to be manly. But as soon as he reveals his situation, she says he's manly enough. What gives? And why would Genma be so worried about her if shes really so reasonable? One of the ideas of this fic is to give some reason for all of this. Nodoka knew that male energy would keep Kirika's female soul suppressed (probably because Kirika told her, though I haven't written that yet) and she was thoroughly freaked by what happened. People who are freaked out tend to freak others out. It created a big ole' batch of no good.

Ryu Kumon

I call him by his family name because Ryu looks too much like Ryoga and Ranma and things are confusing enough without that. More of an issue is my interpretation of his character, which I admit might be a tad off. I've kind of exaggerated some of his faults a little and base him off my impression from the manga rather than on the things he did in the manga. Some might take issue for example with me having him threaten women and innocents with death. I was originally going to have him actually attack, before I went over his canon storyline and realized he actually saved Nodoka from getting hurt; so he's not a complete jackass. If you notice, he's actually having tea with Kasumi and Nabiki, and as much as he talks about killing folk, he doesn't ever actually kill anybody. At least not yet.

I apologize if any of you are offended by his cursing, but he's on a different level of rude than even Ranma or Ryoga is, and there just aren't enough ways to show that. Maybe you can offer an alternative?

Akane and Ranma

Akane's issues with Ranma and vice versa are basically settled for now. You didn't get to see the part where Akane was upset that Ranma wasn't back and worried about her. She had a small tirade, then a talk with Nabiki, and then when Ranma tried and failed to quit her job, she felt like she knew what Ranma's problem was. There was a time in canon when Akane thought she understood Ranma...a little after her hair got cut and Ranma wanted to cheer her up. Happy Akane is observant, playful, and even graceful. The problem here, of course is that she's still trying to make Ranma into a girl and Ranma isn't exactly fighting back. Here I'm completely in fanfiction land. I think Ranma's attitude is pretty consistent with what's happened before. I think everyone who goes to high school has the experience of joining a group of friends and taking on new habits and personality traits from the group. With Ranma it's a bit stranger maybe, and I admit things have happened rather more quickly than they normally would, but Ranma has led a lonely life, and sometimes life changing events can happen quickly. I could be wrong, though. What say you, readers?

Japanese and English

The plural of sensei is actually just sensei...if you are speaking Japanese. Which I am not. Also Japanese houses have engawas, not porches. And they get blown about by kazes not winds. Anyway at some point using the japanese words becomes ridiculous, and I've decided its also silly to try to use Japanese grammar rules in a story written in English. Exceptions would be something like a souzu, for which there is no English word for. You could say it's a deer scarer, but that just seems dumb. I'm sure many of you will disagree with me on some or all of these points, but that's my current feeling on the issue. I'm still tempted to use Japanese in some occasions, such as when Ranma and Akane come inside the house. I know what they are "really" saying is "Tadaima!" and what Kasumi is "really" saying is "Okaerinasai!" but does it really make sense for me to suddenly shift to Japanese there? I don't think it does. These are fictional characters I am writing about in English and if we all agree to pretend that everything they are saying is in Japanese, then my job is already done. I'll try to use cultural quirks when I know about them, but even that is a losing battle. A kansai accent is not exactly the same thing as a Brooklyn or Southern accent and Japanese cursing is more like bragging excessively rather than using curse words. But how do you translate that? I don't really know for sure. This is just my attempt.

Megumi

I have a personal distaste for the name "ranko." If you pronounce it correctly it sounds like a food dehydrator and if you don't, it's like calling someone Smelly. Or Decomposette and the way it came about in canon was kind of dumb imho. So I've organized things to have Nabiki name Ranma's girl side so she can have a name that's slightly less likely to make me want to vomit. Where does the name come from? Well, fem Ranma's seiyuu is Megumi Hayashibara in the anime. Also I read in a manga (Cheeky Angel) that Megumi could be used for a boy or a girl, so Ranma would kind of like that.

In conclusion

I'm happy to discuss any of this with any of you. In the end, I just hope you are still enjoying the story and I hope to keep it up with the next chapter.


	13. Orienteering

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 13: Orienteering

**Disclaimer**: If you enjoy this fanfiction, please consider purchasing the source material. There's a Ranma 1/2 manga as well as an anime. The writer of the manga, Takahashi Rumiko and the cast and crew of the anime all deserve credit. Curious fact: the English dub of the first season of the anime features the voice of Sarah Strange, who later played a character in the live action fish-out-of-water comedy Men in Trees, which had the mom from Dead Like Me in it. Sarah was also in the Michael Keaton movie White Noise. I'm sure Kevin Bacon has to be involved somewhere.

~~~~~Ch.13: Orienteering~~~~~

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

"…and so we both left the prison looking for the Saotomes and stopped here," Ryoga finished. The other girls had both asked questions, but the one who seemed the most interested was Megumi. She didn't just ask about things that related to the Saotomes, but also things about how he felt, details about events that brought him here. He felt so relaxed he almost told her about the Jusenkyo curse, but there are some secrets that are so big they get wedged in the throat even when you want to tell them. And maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell her everything anyway. Even if she was the most understanding and direct girl he had ever met. "I should have realized he was going to be trouble, but …"

"Don't worry about it, man," Megumi said, putting a delicate hand on his shoulder, "We can take care of him. Besides how could you have gotten here otherwise?"

It was nice of her not to mention his sense of direction directly. He still didn't like that she was able to figure it out from his story despite him trying to hide it, but at least she wasn't laughing at him about it like Ranma would. He nodded at her forgiveness. Then he stood up, causing her hand to fall from his shoulder. "He's going to wake up soon. He's really strong. I don't know if you'll be able to hold him."

Megumi looked at her hand oddly for a moment and then stood up herself. "We're all martial artists here. Even Kasumi, though you wouldn't know it. We should be fine. We appreciate the help though."

"I brought him here, I should take him out." Ryoga spoke bravely, though he wasn't sure if he could last in a full on battle with Kumon. It wasn't just his technique; it was the way he moved. There wasn't just ability there, but a ruthlessness that was alarming.

"Hold your horses there, hot stuff," the eye-patch-wearing Nabiki said, seemingly amused by something "We want to solve the problem, not make it worse." She gave Megumi a glance and then continued. "Besides we need to make sure your issues with Ranma are settled."

Ryoga laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. He had actually forgotten his reason for being here. But it wasn't every day three beautiful girls asked to tell them about his life. Thankfully Soun and the panda had left, the area, presumably to continue their game somewhere more quiet. He had to think about what he was going to want tomorrow when he was depressed and alone again. He frowned in concentration. "I just want a challenge. A fair, honest challenge. No running away to China. No excuses. Just a fight to knock out or submission."

"I can swing that," Megumi said happily. "I mean…er I'll talk with…uh..Ranma about that, but I'm sure he'll agree."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Ryoga asked, depressed at the idea.

"No! I just…I…he's my…"

"He's her cousin," Nabiki explained, smiling crazily. "And Megumi's our cousin. Her mother's sister is Ranma's mother and our father is Megumi's father's brother…I think." Nabiki shook her head. "You could say Megumi brings the Tendo and Saotome schools together."

"Huh. Interesting," Ryoga said warily. He got the feeling he was missing something. Especially at the wide-eyed stares Nabiki was getting from Akane and Megumi.

"So the real question is: what are we going to do tonight?" Nabiki's voice hardened into a practiced, professional tone. "Ranma isn't here right now and it's too late for a challenge at any rate. I'd say you could take the guest room, but the panda sleeps there, so that might be awkward."

"I can find a place to sleep." Ryoga raised a hand to allay the concern.

The incredulous looks he got from the three girls were heart breaking.

"The dojo is empty isn't it?" Akane asked.

Nabiki banged her fist into her palm. "Yes. That will work. So, you can stay in the dojo tonight and the challenge can be tomorrow morning before school."

Ryoga frowned. "How is Ranma going to get here in time?"

"Riiight," Nabiki eyed Megumi contemplatively. "I suppose we will have to give Ranma time to get here. Seeing as he won't know about the challenge until tomorrow."

"Cripes, Nabiki, we can have the challenge after the official one tomorrow. It's not like I'm going to have any trouble with that guy anyway."

To Ryoga's confused look, Nabiki explained, "Megumi and Akane get challenges all the time from people who want to either date them or fight them. It used to be pretty chaotic but I managed to move it to every Tuesday and Thursday after class. It makes things easier."

"Hey, you created that situation. We had to force you to stop it and you're still making a profit on it," Akane pointed out.

Nabiki put her hands up. "Fair enough. But I set up the system for exactly these kinds of situations."

"I don't want to challenge Megumi, just Ranma." Ryoga stated, still confused.

Nabiki shook her head. "I'm sorry, of course this must be strange for you. You see Megumi is using Ranma's name in school. Her parents were killed, and even though us and the Saotomes are taking care of her, there's still some question of whether or not the government would consider her to have adequate guardianship. So she's using her cousin's records until she can find a better solution. The Furinkan school system isn't nearly thorough enough to check whether a form says M or F. But she still has to be careful not to be seen with the real Ranma, or else people might get suspicious."

Ryoga nodded slowly. Something didn't seem quite right about the explanation, but Nabiki was probably summarizing a complicated situation for him. Turning to Megumi, he asked, "Both your parents are dead?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Uh…very tragic story. Mom and dad, er… I mean the Saotomes are like my real parents though. So it's cool."

"Yeah, Megumi's parents were always away," Nabiki expanded, "They were never really there for her."

"My dad is a bit like that," Ryoga said with a tinge of melancholy. "I almost never got to see him, but I'm still glad for the times when I did. It still must have been rough on you, to hear they were gone."

Megumi's face went completely serious. "I didn't really notice it at first," she said, "But over time, yeah, It was kinda like an extra emptiness that I didn't know how to fill. It's been a lot better since I moved here though."

There was an odd silence. Again, Ryoga felt like he was missing something.

Nabiki broke the silence by clearing her throat slightly. "Well, it looks like we have a plan. Ryoga, I hope you won't mind tagging along with us to school tomorrow. We want to be sure you can make it to the challenge after all. I guess now we better see how your buddy from jail is doing."

"He isn't my 'buddy'," Ryoga grumbled.

Kumon was leaning against a kitchen counter, voraciously consuming a bowl of Ramen, when Ryoga looked in with Megumi and the other girls.

"You mustn't eat so quickly, Ryu-kun, you might get indigestion."

"FUG OOH! Ah ee ah fah ah ah wah to!" Kumon spoke as eloquently as he could be expected to manage with a mouth full of noodles.

"I thought you were going to tape him up." Megumi wondered out loud.

"I couldn't do that!" Kasumi waved the idea off. "The boy reminds me too much of myself when I was his age."

"You're not going to go crazy on him?" Megumi asked.

Kasumi shook her head, her smile hardening a little. "He's not nearly as irritating as you, Megumi-chan. He does not disturb my harmony."

"Well, excuse me!" Megumi protested.

Swallowing what was in his mouth, Kumon asked, "What's with the congregation? You bitches going to try to gang up on me now?" The way Kumon stared directly at Ryoga let him know he was being purposely included in the insult.

Ryoga cracked his knuckles in response, hoping for menacing.

"We just want to know if we can come to an arrangement." Nabiki spoke from behind Ryoga.

"An arrangement? What, are we decorating for a party or something? Shit, girl, all I want to know is where the fuck Saotome Genma is, so I can tear the bastard apart limb from limb for killing my father. That and he has something I want."

"And what might that be?" Nabiki asked.

"It's a secret technique. You wouldn't understand. Too advanced for any of you fucktards."

"This secret technique…" Nabiki's voice turned positively sultry, "it wouldn't happen to be the Umisenken, would it?"

Kumon's frown told Ryoga that Nabiki had guessed it, whatever it was.

"What would _you _know about it?" Kumon sneered

Ryoga turned around to see Nabiki's arms crossed, her un-patched eyebrow raised. "More than you ever will."

"Hey, Nabiki? Don't you think…" Megumi started, but Nabiki interrupted her.

"At least if you plan on going on like this," she amended. "Why should we give you anything if you keep saying you're going to kill us all the time?"

"It ain't rocket science, Patches. If you don't give me what I want, then I'll kill you."

Nabiki nodded. "And then we'll tell you where Saotome Genma and the secret of the Umisenken is after you kill us? Is that the plan?"

"What, you got a better one?"

"A counter offer? Yes. Indeed I do." Nabiki stepped forward so Ryoga could only see the back of her head as she spoke to Kumon. "Agree not to kill anyone. Make a formal challenge, and we will see that Uncle Saotome receives it. I'll officiate the challenge. I'd ask if you wanted someone on your side to officiate as well, but from what I've seen, I sincerely doubt you have anyone on your side."

"I'm on his side." Kasumi said matter-of-factly.

"Huh? Why?" Ryoga asked.

Kasumi looked down. She looked strangely shy. "If Uncle Saotome did kill this boy's father, he should answer for it."

"But Kasumi, I thought you hated violence!" Akane protested

"C'mon Kasumi, he's got to be lying about Pops. Even you got to see that." Megumi said.

Kasumi shook her head. "What I see is a very hungry boy who has lived without a father or mother for far too long. I believe his story."

"Listen, lady, thanks for the food and all, but I need you like a need a blister on my ass. So kindly fuck off."

Megumi gestured at Kumon in frustration."You see, Kasumi? He's not worth it. He's an asshole."

Kasumi put a hand on Kumon's shoulder. "He hasn't had a chance to be anything else. You have."

Kumon shrugged off Kasumi's hand, diminishing the effect somewhat, but Ryoga was still impressed. The taller girl actually managed to make him feel a little sorry for the guy.

Nabiki sighed. "Do you agree to my terms or not?"

Kumon nodded. "Yeah. I want to challenge that bastard tomorrow morning. And the big girl can be my referee if she wants. Don't want her panties getting in a twist. Any of you do anything tricky though…"

Nabiki's hand came up, "You'll kill us, right? Look tell it to me again after I've had my," Nabiki looked at the clock on the wall, "mildly attractive person sleep, and maybe I'll care. Toodles." She turned the stopping gesture to a goodbye wave and turned to leave.

"Come with me," Kasumi said, "I'll find you a place for tonight."

"If you want to fuck, we can do it right here," Kumon said with a bark of laughter.

"Hmm?" Kasumi asked. Ryoga was alarmed to see Kasumi's fingernails elongate and grow sharp and metallic as she moved them to Kumon's throat. He looked around to see if anyone else was seeing what he was seeing, but everyone else had left for bed.

"Uh…nothing," Kumon backtracked.

Kasumi sighed, "Younger men are all the same"

"Hey! Ryoga!" A warm hand grabbed his wrist. "I've got to take you to the dojo."

Thrown by Megumi's directness, Ryoga stammered, "I-I can find it myself. You don't need to worry."

Megumi shook her head. "You're making it to that challenge tomorrow if I have to handcuff you to my arm. Get moving."

Ryoga followed her to the dojo, spending the whole time trying to figure out how he might be able to ask Megumi to go out with him, wondering if he should, and finally reasoning that there was no way she would be interested if she found out about his curse. It was all Ranma's fault for running off to China, and finally, tomorrow, he would pay.

"Good night!" Megumi said before she left.

"Good night!" Ryoga called back.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

She was sitting down on the bed. All Ranma could see was her back. Her hair was short, black, and curly.

"It's a perm," she said.

"This is a dream," Ranma said back.

Kirika turned around. "You shouldn't do that."

"Do what?"

"State the obvious." She took a shuddering breath. "Dreams don't often bear up against scrutiny."

"You've been crying."

Kirika turned back around. "For about a decade, apparently."

Ranma looked around, but the rest of the room was a vague amorphous cloud. "Mom says she forgives you."

Kirika nodded. "What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you forgive me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You used to be a boy."

"I still…"

Kirika stood up. "Don't try to lie, dear. It doesn't work with me. Besides, look at yourself. "

Ranma looked at her hands, her pig tail. Her. "I'm still 90% male."

Kirika walked around the bed to face Ranma. "After Jusenkyo, you were fifty percent female. Now you are 55% female. I'm afraid that's just the physical changes though. Mentally…" Kirika waved at the femininity of Ranma's dream self.

Because it was a dream, Ranma's breasts actually got bigger and her usual Chinese outfit morphed into her school uniform. "Stop that!"

"I wish I could." Kirika's eyes looked into Ranma's. Because it was a dream, they weren't just blue, they were glowing. "You have a strong will, but in moments of uncertainty, vulnerability…you reach out, and most of the time, I'm what you grab onto."

A large monstrous panther leapt onto the bed next to Kirika.

"Most of the time," Kirika repeated bitterly.

Ranma's eyes widened. She started to shake.

"Before you leave…you know where Oka Kosuke is now. You need to tell Kasumi." The panther bounded from the bed.

Ranma turned tail and started running, curiously he was now a boy. A young boy. He felt like he was running through jelly. Not fast enough, never fast enough.

"Help heal my daughters, Ranma." The voice sounded strangely calm. Not pleading, it sounded more like she was offering advice. "Help them."

It was odd hearing the words as the six inch claws of the panther were tearing into his back. It was almost enough to make him forget to scream. Almost.

]][[

Ranma jolted awake, sucking in a breath.

_You know where Kosuke is_.

Ranma swallowed. She was sweating. She wiped the moisture from her forehead.

_Help them._

Help.

Tasuke.

Kosuke.

Ranma jumped out the bed. "Tasuke _is _Kosuke!"

And then she sat back down as a wave of cold realization hit her. "Crap. Tasuke is Kosuke." She had trusted Tasuke. Took her advice. Took her potion. The person who killed Akane's mother, Nabiki's mother, Kasumi's mother, and Ranma still halfway thought of her as some beneficent aunt. How was she supposed to feel about that? What was she going to do? Go to China to kill her? That didn't seem like something she could do.

At the very least she should stop being a girl. Taking the vial, becoming more comfortable with her girl side, it was all just playing into Kosuke's hand. She had to stop.

She expelled air as she laid back down. She stared at the ceiling. She didn't want to. Every reason to change back into a guy, and she just didn't want to.

It didn't matter. She promised her mother she would go back to being a man full time after a day. Her time was almost up and she still hadn't said goodbye to everyone yet.

And what was the deal with the Megumi thing last night? She should have come clean right away instead of playing along. It had been fun pretending to be someone else, but it didn't jive well with going back to being a guy. She wasn't exactly sure why. On the surface, it seemed like a good way to explain her girl self while allowing her guy self to come out to fight Ryoga, but Ranma had the feeling it was going to complicate things somehow.

Ranma got up. She had to talk to somebody about this. Someone who wasn't Akane.

]][[

Nabiki opened the door only a few moments after Ranma knocked.

"I don't know what I'm more upset about. That you're knocking at my door this early, or that I was actually already up." Nabiki looked half-dead; her hair was in disarray, she had circles under her eyes and…

Ranma blinked. Nabiki wasn't wearing her patch. The stitches around her eye looked mostly healed, but what was strange was that the eye that was hurt was a pale blue color, instead of the copper brown of her other eye.

Nabiki caught Ranma staring and immediately covered the blue eye. Then, sighing she removed her hand. "I guess you already saw it now."

"Nabiki, I…I'm sorry…"

"Shut up, Saotome. I'm over it. Let it go. What do you want?"

Ranma grimaced. "It's not that big a deal. I'll talk to you later." She turned to leave.

"Amateresu's polka-dot undies, Ranma, just say what it is. You've got me curious now anyway."

Ranma turned back. She frowned. "Why would your eye change like that?"

Nabiki lowered her head slightly to be eye level with Ranma. "My mother's eyes were this color." Nabiki pointed to her blue eye.

Ranma remembered the way Kirika's eyes glowed in the dream. She shuddered and looked away. "I had a dream about her last night."

"Oh?"

Ranma lifted her gaze just in time to see Nabiki's brows come together in a look of concern before relaxing into her usual slightly smug smile. "So you know," Ranma said through a sigh. "Figures."

"Come inside."

Ranma nodded and followed Nabiki into her room. Nabiki offered her a corner of her unmade bed and Ranma sat. "You saw the first black out. I guess it makes sense you figured it out. Is that why you came up with the whole 'Megumi ' thing last night?"

"Well, I don't know, you came up with a good part of that yourself. What was that bit about your parents? You almost had _me_ fooled."

Ranma shrugged. "I was thinking about how I felt when I was growing up, thinking my mom had died. What I said just sort of came out of that."

Nabiki nodded. "You had a kernel of truth to sell it with. That's why it worked."

Ranma wasn't sure she was comfortable getting kudos on her lying technique. "The point is, you made me your cousin. You didn't have to do that."

"I couldn't make you my sister. We look nothing alike."

Ranma frowned.

"As far as I'm concerned, Ranma. We're related. Why do you think I've been so nice to you?"

Ranma held the bridge of her nose. "I'm still trying to put things together. I'm not as smart as you. Could you just explain things for me? How are we related?"

Nabiki sat on the corner of her desk. "When you punched me, you killed me."

"What?"

Nabiki smiled. "I would have been upset if you hadn't saved my life."

"I did some stitches but…"

"No, that just kept me from scarring too badly." Nabiki looked down for a moment and then she addressed Ranma with her head tilted as if she herself were unsure about what happened. "The first thing I remember after waking up was a feeling of being loved. I hadn't felt that in a while."She frowned and shook her head. "My sisters, my father, we love each other, but we don't express it that often. Especially not me. And I've felt like I was more or less alone for awhile now."

"Since your mother died."

Nabiki sighed. "Yes, everything starts there, doesn't it? But like I was saying, here was this feeling of love, of being protected. And I saw her. She smiled at me. I heard your words. You prayed to your mother's spirit to cure me. But your mother wasn't dead. And my mother was inside you. And now one of my eyes is the same color as hers." Nabiki slid off the desk. She sat next to Ranma on the bed. "She is inside you as much as she is inside me. We are sisters."

Ranma felt a feeling of warmth at the idea…followed by a feeling of panic. "I'm not a-"

"Oh you're a girl alright, _Megumi_." Nabiki gave Ranma a playful slap on her shoulder. "Flirting with that Ryoga boy like you were."

"What?"

She stood and made a dramatic pose "Oh, Ryoga! You've had it SOO HARD!"

Ranma felt heat in her cheeks. "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

Nabiki sobered somewhat. "No, not really. But you were a little overly interested in his life story. "

"But I ruined his life! If I had just paid attention to him instead of treating him like crap we might have been friends."

Nabiki crossed her arms. "You do know that he's an idiot, right? Never mind his direction sense, why would he bother chasing you for YEARS just because you missed one lousy challenge?"

Ranma shrugged. She kind of understood, but at the same time it did seem a little strange.

Nabiki sat in her office chair, crossing her legs. "You know, it would make a lot more sense if you were a girl from the beginning. Then he would just be your basic stalker."

Ranma shook her head. "I was the first real martial artist he had ever met that wasn't related to him. And I basically ignored him. You have to see how that could drive you crazy."

"A _little_ crazy, sure, but this kid has more obsession than Calvin Klein." Nabiki leaned forward. "Face it, Ranma, you're sweet on the boy." She checked her nails. "Not that I can blame you. He does have a great body …if you can look past the fact he has the brains of an empty shoe and a personality like a rolling boulder."

Ranma sighed in frustration. "I feel like I owe him, okay? I want to give him a serious challenge. I want to try to make up for what I did to him."

Nabiki held up a hand. "No, Ranma. You don't owe him anything. Logically, you understand that, right? He made several false assumptions and that's what brought him here. What's going on is that you feel guilty, and you want to feel better about yourself, right?"

"Okay…"

"And as an added bonus he's cute and makes you feel attractive, right?"

Ranma looked away.

"Use him. Find a way to get him to forgive you, and in the meantime enjoy his company. Yes, things might go wrong. They probably will. But when they do, you'll want different things, and maybe you'll be better at getting them."

"He's a person, Nabiki. Not a tool."

Nabiki stood up and walked to the door. "That's debatable." She turned around."Listen. Life is complicated enough without having to question every thought that comes into your head. You're talking to me because you want to. Does it really matter why you want to? If you're getting something out of this, does that mean I'm just a tool to you? "

"Uh…" Ranma suddenly felt a little guilty.

Nabiki raised a hand as if to quell any misgivings. "I think of you as a sister. I hated you when you first came, with your judgmental attitude and prudishness, but after that punch…After seeing my mom again…I just feel like we share something precious, crazy as it sounds."

Ranma gritted her teeth against the lump in her throat. "I can't be your sister, Nabiki. I'm a man. I'm going to live with my parents. After today I won't be a girl anymore."

Nabiki was silent for a moment. She frowned. "Damn it, Ranma, how dumb are you?" She got up abruptly and angrily strode to the door, snatching her eye patch up from the nightstand.

"I can't stay a girl. The blackouts..."

"She's inside you. I don't know why, or what it means, but after thinking she was dead all this time…" Nabiki looked out her door for a time before turning back around. "She's my mother, not a parasite. Maybe you should try helping her, instead of running away from her." With that, Nabiki put on her eye-patch and left.

Into the silence and emptiness that followed, Ranma uttered one word: "Crap."

]][[

Ranma found Kasumi downstairs just as she was heading outside. If she was going to start trying to help Kirika, doing what she asked her to do in the dream had to be a good place to start.

"Uh, hey, Kasumi?"

The taller girl turned around. "Good morning, Megumi-chan."

"You don't need to call me that right now. Ryoga and the other guy aren't around."

Kasumi tilted her head in thought. "I prefer to think of you as Megumi until they are both gone. I hope you don't mind."

Ranma looked away "I guess that makes sense." She took a breath. "I have something to tell you."

"Oh?"

Ranma gritted her teeth as she tried to think of a way to relate the information. "I guess I should just tell ya and you can do what ya want after." Ranma took a breath. "I know where your mother's killer is."

Kasumi turned around and started walking out of the house again.

Ranma scrambled in front of her "I met the jerk over in China. Didn't realize it till this mornin'. Not sure what to do about it, but I had a…feelin' I should tell you first." Ranma wasn't sure she was ready to talk about her dream with Kasumi. Even thoush she was there for at least one of the black outs, she wasn't sure how much she knew or how she would feel about it.

Kasumi nodded. "Thank you for letting me know." She continued walking.

"Wait, what are you going to do?"

Kasumi stopped and closed her eyes. "I am going to try to save a young man's life if it's possible. Then I will wait."

"But…"

"When Oka Kosuke sets foot on Japan, I will murder him."

"What if he never comes to Japan?"

"Then maybe I'll manage to die without any more blood on my hands."

Ranma frowned. "I don't get it. If he's here you're going to kill him, but if he's in China you're fine about it?"

Kasumi let out a breath and placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I can't bring Mom back. If I go after him, it will just cause more death. If he comes here though…death will be unavoidable one way or another." For a moment, Kasumi's grip on Ranma's shoulder tightened like a vise. Then she relaxed. "I'm sorry. It was good of you to tell me. Please forget about it though." Kasumi released Ranma's shoulder and walked out of the door.

After a stunned moment, Ranma ran out after her. "How the heck am I supposed to forget about it? The bitch killed your mother! And I had tea with her! Him."

Kasumi stiffened. "Excuse me for a moment," she said in a small voice. Then in a flurry of movement she ran to one of the large stones placed around the koi pond. She screamed and waved her arms at it, glints of metal hitting the stone with a clang as sparks shot out, bright in the early morning dimness. The attack lasted for about half a minute as blades kept appearing out of Kasumi's hands and then retracting. Then the eldest Tendo daughter stopped, taking deep breaths, her hair in disarray, and her eyes wide with fury.

Slowly she collected herself into a semblance of her previous calm, and she walked deliberately past Ranma toward the dojo. Ranma followed her up to the doorway. Pausing before she entered, Kasumi addressed Ranma one last time. "You seem to have swallowed the lies your father has taught you about the violence you call art wholeheartedly. I don't think I can do anything about that. Maybe it's a lesson we all must learn on our own. Let me just give you some advice. There is only one way to win a challenge to the death."

"Yeah?"

"Refuse the challenge." Kasumi slid the dojo door open.

Mulling over Kasumi's tidbit of advice, it didn't exactly seem the right time for Ranma to mention that she had Kirika's ghost living inside her. As it was, she was interrupted before she could say anything else.

"It's about fucking time you came by!" Kumon snapped from his position on the floor sitting Indian style. "I was just about to kick this traitor's ass."

"Good morning, Megumi-san!" Ryoga said. "You too Kasumi-san," he said, seemingly as an afterthought.

Ranma found herself smiling at Ryoga's overly polite manner. It was so easy to forget that the boy had threatened to kill her male side several times the previous night

It was going to be an odd day.

~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

The middle-aged man wore a bandanna and glasses tied to his head with a string. His gi looked like it was white once, but was now a dingy gray. The man looked fat at first, but Ryoga realized that he was all muscle. This was a man who had lived the art, who even as his body deteriorated with age, was able exude an incredible aura of strength. "I did not kill your father," he said.

"Bullshit," Kumon shot back.

Saotome Genma shook his head. "Your father was my friend. We drank together every Friday."

"I don't give a shit about that. You gave my Dad a secret technique. Said it would make him a bunch of money."

"It would have too, if he had used it correctly."

"Yeah? Well maybe you should have mentioned that if he used it he might ACCIDENTLY DESTROY HIS HOME!"

The voice caused the ground to shake. Even though the sound wasn't directed at him, Ryoga could feel the paralysis strike him as the vibrations coursed though his nervous system. He had only seen the technique a few times. Almost very time, though, there was something sharp that came out when Kumon yelled. It cut through the bars of the jail Kumon was staying in.

The stout martial artist jumped to the right. Something brushed past his gi rustling the pant leg. A tear appeared there. The older man grimaced, bent down and ripped off the lower part of the pant leg.

"He attacked before the challenge officially started. 1 point penalty." Nabiki crossed her arms, her feet in a wide stance.

"I disagree." Kasumi said. She stood across from Nabiki, looking oddly imperial with her hands behind her back.

"Are you kidding, sis? His leg almost got cut off."

Kasumi shook her head. "You are more aware than anyone that what is said is just as important as what is done. The match began the moment the conversation started."

"Kasumi, there's reality and there's the rules. The match doesn't officially begin until we say it does."

"And I say that the match has started," Kasumi continued pertly.

"Well, what do you say, Hibiki-chan?" Nabiki asked.

He was the closest thing to impartial so he got roped into being the tie breaker. "I think this is all kind of silly. They should just fight and whoever's left standing wins."

"I believe that means the ruling goes in my favor." Kasumi was a strange girl. Her eyes were fierce now, but at times they seemed almost vacant. Just before the match it had seemed as if her mind had gone on a small, pleasant vacation. And now it was like her whole body, house dress and all, was a coiled spring waiting for release.

"Hibiki, is that what you meant?" Nabiki asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sure."

Nabiki threw up her hands. "Fine. Continue."

"I see you managed to learn the technique without harming yourself," Saotome observed.

"Yeah. I don't know. I guess digging my Dad's lifeless corpse out of the rubble of the only home I ever knew kind of gave me the idea that maybe I should try practicing the thing in an open field."

Saotome grimaced. "I didn't know that could happen."

"I don't give a shit," Kumon shot back. "Way I figure it, you're either a stupid fuck or an evil fuck and either way, you need to get the fuck beat out of you. So let's get this going before you die of old age."

"Fair enough," the older man said. Then he started to get bigger.

Ryoga thought he was imagining it at first, but the man was actually growing in size. After a second, he was as tall as the house.

Ryoga had recently had an altercation with a giant boar. He turned into a piglet himself upon occasion. It wasn't as if he was new to the idea of skill or magic. But this seemed to be on a different level. He felt like he did when he saw the invisible trapeze artists in China, though he eventually found out that was done with machinery and a small, balding man pulling levers behind a curtain. He couldn't figure out how someone could make themselves larger.

A fist the size of Kumon's torso whooshed toward the teenager. Strangely he didn't try to dodge. Instead he solidified his stance and crossed his arms in front of him to intercept the blow. It almost looked like he would be able to stand his ground, but the force of the blow was too much and he stumbled back. "Ha!" He said. "I knew it!. It's just a ki attack."

Ryoga swallowed. _Just_ a ki attack? As if ki attacks were something any fool could do? Where did this Kumon guy come from?

Genma was now bringing the heel of a massive foot down onto Kumon's head but Kumon smiled, looking up at it. "MIST!" he yelled, clapping his hands above his head. Genma's leg seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke. Kumon gave the middle-aged man a smug look. But the look didn't last long. Shortly after the leg disappeared, the rest of Genma's larger body disappeared.

Genma was nowhere to be seen.

The space where he was standing was empty. So was the roof of the house. The water in the koi pond was undisturbed. Was he behind a tree? Up in a tree? There was a bright pink cirrus cloud directly over head. It was beautiful against the dark blue of the sky. Then there was a thud.

Kumon was on the ground. Kasumi rushed to him. Her hands felt his head. "He was hit by something. There's a lump."

Megumi ran up next to her. "Is he bleeding?"

Kasumi shook her head.

Ryoga stood up. "I'll help carry him inside." He walked to Kumon and bent down at his shoulders. Megumi wordlessly bent at the boy's feet. They lifted. The action seemed strangely intimate. He and Megumi were connected by the slack body of an asshole. She smiled before his mood could sour. Megumi had a beautiful smile.

"What is it?"

She looked up. "My Pops has been hiding things from me. I may have to kick his ass."

Ryoga liked how she seemed to be happy about that.

"Once we're inside, turn left and go through the door. We'll put him on my bed."

Ryoga gave a small nod and started shuffling backward into the house, Nabiki and Akane following just behind. Then he turned left.

"No, not that way. Left!"

"Your left or mine?"

"Oh yeah. Uh, mine I guess."

Ryoga reversed directions. He did a double take when he saw Genma next to the entrance to the kitchen.

Megumi craned her neck, following his gaze. She promptly let go of Kumon's legs. "Pops! What was that? You've been hiding that all this time?"

"I don't want to talk right now." Genma held his hands up. "I need something to eat."

"Okay, Pops, sure . I'll make up some eggs or something after we take care of Kumon."

"I'm hungry now!" Genma rushed into the kitchen.

"Crap." Megumi turned around, "Hey, Ryoga, uh, hang out for a bit would ya? I've got to take care of something."

"Can I help?" Akane asked, going to the entrance of the kitchen herself.

"I'm going to my room," Nabiki announced testily before going up the stares. She seemed to be annoyed at something.

That left Kasumi to help Ryoga deal with Kumon. She grabbed Kumon's ankles and lifted with solemn expression on her face. She lifted her chin in the direction Ryoga needed to go and he followed her lead.

"What's going on in the kitchen?" he asked as they entered Ranma's room.

Kasumi's face curved into a vapid smile. "Megumi-chan's finding something for Uncle Saotome to eat. They laid Kumon's body on the immaculately made bed. "Would you like something?"

"No, I'm fine. It just seemed a little weird how Mr. Saotome was acting. Megumi seemed almost scared."

"I'm sure Megumi-chan has it under control."

There was a loud clang in the kitchen.

Kasumi tilted her head. "Maybe I'll just check on her to see how she's doing."

Ryoga nodded, and followed her out of the room. Megumi was backing out of the kitchen. "Kasumi? I think you and Ryoga need to get out of here. Somethin's wrong with Pops."

Mister Saotome staggered out of the kitchen. His eyes were glowing blue. His skin was a shiny obsidian. "Something is wrong with _you, girl_."

The man reached out and tore a chunk from the door frame in anger. "You lied to me! You lied to me and your motherI"

Ryoga swallowed. This seemed a bit too personal for him to watch, but he wasn't sure if he should leave, what with the dangerous aura the room was filled with.

"I didn't lie!" Megumi protested, "I just didn't think things through is all. I just changed my mind!"

"You worthless slime. You have brought nothing but shame to our family from the day you were born." With every sentence, the dark man was taking another step toward Megumi. "I tried to mold you into a man among men. Tried to teach you honor. But you just keep doing these stupid girlish things."

Megumi was in an odd stance. Her shoulders were hunched and her arms hanging, while her legs were bent in a sort of crouch. She looked almost like an angry cat.

Kasumi put a hand on Megumi's shoulder. "Calm down, Megumi-chan. He won't hurt you."

Megumi blinked and straightened. "I ain't scared. It's just, I never seen Pops this bad. He usually just eats something and he calms down." For some reason she was using male pronouns now, and was talking like a gangster.

"You should be scared. I've had it with you, you weak-willed pansy. I'm going to beat the girl out of you!" The man with the glowing eyes charged forward toward Megumi, but Kasumi stepped in front of her, her arms crossed.

Long sword blades protruded from Kasumi's hands and she brought both edges to Saotome's neck. "She is not your son. She is your daughter. She is becoming a woman. You need to stop this silly charade."

"I don't listen to cowards." Saotome sneered. He grabbed one of Kasumi's blades with one hand and pulled, causing her to stumble forward. Then, grabbing with the other hand, he took the blade and bent it into a "C" shape. Then he bit into it, separating it into two with his teeth.

The severed part of the blade immediately dropped and splattered onto the floor as liquid blood. Kasumi gasped and doubled over. Ryoga rushed to give her support.

Megumi looked strangely calm. Turning to Ryoga she asked. "Could you please take Kasumi and find my hus-…Mr. Tendo?" Her voice was strange. More mature sounding. Perhaps a little more melodious in an authoritative way. "Tell him his friend is hungry. He will know what to do."

Ryoga eyed the scary looking monster Saotome had become, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Megumi closed her eyes in a strangely serene way. "I will manage."

Picking up Kasumi's now unconscious body, Ryoga ran off in search of Tendo Soun.

Soon the hallways of the Tendo residence began to look suspiciously like the streets of Tokyo. Desperate, Ryoga ramped up the search, running through buildings, marketplaces, culverts, trees, bushes. Kasumi was growing heavy in his arms, but still, he pressed on. He was farther away now. He had to try harder...

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

He gasped for air as he scrambled out of the water. He was outside. A man dressed as a samurai was rapidly attacking his father. Pops still had the black skin and glowing eyes. The sword strikes of the samurai actually seemed to be doing some damage though. Small chips in the forearms revealed shockingly pink flesh beneath. One cut was starting to bleed. Ranma could hardly track the samurai's movements. He was a blur followed by a whirl, followed by a ring of four combatants followed, by an explosion of flailing limbs.

Ranma got out of the pond and onto dry ground as he watched. He was out of breath. He had to have been fighting or something. He didn't remember though. He just remembered Kasumi fainting and then…

It was another black out. "Why can't you give me a little warning when you do that?" he grumbled under his breath to Kirika, not expecting a response.

_I wasn't about to let you stand around, slack jawed, while my daughters were attacked,_ Kirika responded. Her voice was in his head like the words to a catchy song. Not exactly audible, but definite, even while Ranma couldn't be completely sure they weren't his own thoughts.

Ranma shuddered. "Don't do that. Can't you make yourself, I don't know, more separate?"

A white orb appeared to Ranma's left. "Is this better?" It asked in Kirika's voice.

Ranma nodded. "Is there something I should be doing? The Samurai guy seems to be doing more than I could."

The orb dimmed a little. "Your father is still in there, Ranma. This is just the darkness that drives him."

Ranma glared at the orb. Was there any point in denying he was hurt by his father's words?

He looked down. "What if he's right? I mean how can I have honor if.."

"Ranma, you need to get it together. You are the best. No matter what your father says. No matter what anyone says. You are the greatest of all them. You can beat this." The orb made abrupt circular motions to emphasize the points.

Ranma stared. "You…"

"No time for that now. You need to help your father. Soun can only hold him so long before he'll have to injure him more seriously."

The samurai attacking Genma like a kamikaze hummingbird paused during a move just long enough for Ranma to see his face. He blinked. It was indeed Tendo Soun in the armor.

Ranma felt a wave of pride and love for the man, which managed to both touch him and creep him out at the same time. "Stop that!"

"Sorry!"

"Where's Akane and Nabiki?"

"I told them to get help."

"Who could help?"

"I don't know for sure. Maybe no one." The orb dimmed. "The point was to get my daughters out of here without either of them feeling like they were running away."

"Great. So what am I doing?"

The orb brightened until it almost hurt Ranma's eyes."You are going to get a roast chicken."

Most restaurants were still closed. Grocery stores were just beginning to open their doors and even there, the chickens that would be available were either still clucking or frozen. They would need to be thawed which would take almost a full day, and even after that they would need to cook for at least an hour.

Kirika told Ranma why it had to be a roast chicken. Sometimes Soun would wake up after a nightmare and he would tell her of the things his master did to him and Genma. Still it seemed a little ridiculous to be doing what she was doing.

She had poured salt in a circle on a wide cookie sheet and around a oval container for roasting. It was filled, not with a chicken, but with steaming hot water.

Into the water, Ranma let three drops of blood fall from his cut thumb.

"You cannot bring something here, without leaving something in return," Kirika explained, "It's a basic tenet of all summoning spells."

"Wait, I'm doing a spell?"

Kirika ignored his question. "The next thing you have to do is infuse the water with some of your ki. You can do this because of the drops of blood you added. Just think of the water as part of your body."

"I'm doing all this to get a roast chicken?"

The orb dimmed. "You're doing this to save your father and keep my husband from getting injured."

"Fine." Ranma closed his eyes and tried to expand his ki into the water. He felt a tingling sensation as he slowly changed forms.

The orb dimmed further to an almost black. "I was not expecting that."

"I guess it's like I'm making another chakra node inside the water. The node is surrounded and so it triggers the curse." Just like in Tofu's experiment. Ranma felt a wave of excitement as she realized she might be able to use this to change at will. All she would have to do is find some water, heat it up, put some of her blood in it…okay maybe it wasn't that great a solution.

The orb brightened to a normal shade. "The blood has to be fresh for this to work. Otherwise you could just carry a vial of bloody water around and shove your ki into it."

Ranma nodded. It still seemed like a useful thing to know. "Now what?"

"Speak your true name and ask the spirits to guide what you seek to where you need it to be."

"Okay…" Ranma looked around, feeling very foolish. "I am Ranma Saotome. Please exchange this water for a roast chicken."

Nothing happened.

Kirika's orb dimmed.

"Well? What went wrong?"

Kirika's voice was tiny. "You didn't use your true name."

"Yeah I did!"

The orb brightened and dimmed in a throbbing pulse. "Your true name reflects everything you are. When you speak your true name, you feel both pride and embarrassment."

Ranma swallowed. "I think I get it." She closed her eyes, feeling the water in the roaster ripple. This had the feeling of something she couldn't take back. She was not going to abandon who she was, or where she had come from, but the truth was that she didn't want to leave the Tendos. Ever. With all their faults, even because of their faults, she would miss them. Maybe she really didn't know them that well, but it felt like a technique she had not yet mastered. And no matter what, she was never going to be the same. Nabiki had given her a name. She would take it.

She took a breath. "I am Ranma Megumi Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Spirits, please exchange this water for a roast chicken."

It suddenly felt like going downhill in an okonomiyaki cart.

Everything went black except for Kirika's orb. With her orb though, there now appeared thousands of orbs of different colors sizes and shapes. Feeling a presence behind her, Ranma turned around to see a gigantic, throbbing sun-like sphere looming over her. "What the-?"

"That's Jusenkyo. A corporation of errant souls that works to preserve its existence and the goals of its most vocal members. "

"What?"

"It's a demon, Ranma."

Reality popped back into focus. The sweet, savory smell of roast chicken wafted up to Ranma's nostrils.

Somewhere else, a befuddled homeworker was looking into an oven where the roaster was now full of water, instead of a chicken.

Far away in China, a millennia old demon was saying hello.

"Was this really worth it?" Ranma asked.

Kirika brightened her orb. "I don't have to worry about you losing any more of yourself now that you've named yourself. Furthermore, now you can help your father. I'd say it was worth it."

Ranma picked up the roaster with the chicken inside. "I hope so," she said, and she carried the roaster outside. She was barely a step out of the house before the roaster was ripped out of her hands.

A moment later, Genma was on the ground, a leg of the chicken was completely inside his mouth. His skin was slowly turning back to normal. Tears were coming out of his eyes.

Soun lowered his sword, and sheathed it. He turned toward Ranma. "I'm sorry you had to see that." The armor faded from his body like a mist. "Your father is a good man. Sometimes he just wants too much from the world. "

Ranma nodded slowly. It wasn't that great an argument, but she understood.

Soun squinted at the sun just peeking out from the buildings "Looks like you're going to be late for school," he said.

Considering she had to rendezvous with Akane and Nabiki and try to find Ryoga before she could go to class, that was a major understatement.

"I'll just get notes from somebody. It's okay." Ranma waved Soun off.

Soun nodded twice. "I'm glad you've decided to stay. I'll try to help your father understand."

"But I…" She had said she'd get notes from somebody. In her heart she had never really considered leaving. "Thanks, Uncle," she said.

"I'll be in my room." Soun entered the house.

Ranma glanced at her father, still crumpled on the ground. She closed her eyes and went inside the house herself. If she tried to help Genma up, he'd just feel worse. He would be okay. Besides, she was still angry at him for the things he said. She was angry at him too, for not being able to control himself. For getting defeated by a cooked piece of meat. If this was what all of her father's training led him to, maybe Kasumi was right.

Ranma stopped. _Was_ she right? She shook her head. She couldn't articulate the feeling, but she knew that the Art had to have some merit. There were too many moments of beauty she experienced pursuing it. Still…

Ranma resumed walking into her room to fetch her book bag. Kasumi was just a hypocrite control freak. That was it. She should stop trying to find ways for her to be a good person.

Even if Kasumi did get knocked out from blood loss trying to protect her.

"Dang it! Why does everyone have to be so complicated?" Ranma asked her empty room.

"Life is complicated, dear," Kirika's voice told her.

She had actually managed to forget she had the spirit of Kasumi's mother stuck inside her head while she was thinking about the ersatz pacifist's philosophical world view. "You can say that again."

Ranma found her book bag and grabbed it. She was halfway out of the door before she paused. She turned around. Her room was still empty.

No sign of Kumon Ryu, unconscious or otherwise.

"I guess he's okay at least," she grumbled. She couldn't shake an irritating ominous feeling though. Life was going to get more complicated.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga stood on a sandy beach. He didn't know where he was, but he knew that if he walked along the beach, he'd eventually come to a ship, and people on ships usually knew where they were going.

Kasumi had come to ten or fifteen minutes ago, and although she was still a little woozy, she was managing to follow Ryoga fairly well as long as he didn't move too quickly. "It's a nice day, isn't it?" she noted, shielding her eyes from the sun.

Ryoga hadn't really noticed, but actually was quite pleasant on the beach. It was still early enough that the sun wasn't too overbearing. Just a gentle heat broken up every now and then by the shadow of a cloud. "We have to get back," Ryoga said, trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

"Hibiki-kun, we will be far too late to do anything, and I don't think we'd be much help anyway. Let's just enjoy ourselves."

"Aren't you worried about your family?"

Kasumi thinned her lips. "Someone told me recently that I should try expressing my anger more often so it doesn't boil up. You are an idiot."

"Excuse me?"

"You're an idiot. A moron. A dolt. Of course I'm worried about my family! But watching you, it seems the more worried you get, the less reasonable you become. So please, even though we both know that I'm anxious to get back to Nerima, let's just pretend that we want to be here."

Ryoga frowned. He'd never been insulted by a girl before. He wasn't sure what the protocol was. "But…how are we going to get back, if we don't try to find the way?"

"Use your imagination. If we're on vacation, what would be the most pleasant way to get back?"

"We could take a ship…"

Kasumi winced "How are you this stupid?"

Ryoga frowned again. "Look. You're a girl, but that doesn't mean you can just call me names."

Kasumi's eyes got wider as she spoke through grit teeth. "I am trying not to skewer you with my fingernail." She took a breath and let it out slowly. "We're still on Honshu. We want to travel inland."

"Isn't there a train or something?"

"Yes! Good!" She smiled. "So let's just walk down the beach, take in the sea air, and see if we can find a train station, okay?"

The idea seemed totally wrong, but if Kasumi was suggesting it, maybe it was okay. After all she had more reason to get back than he had. "So we're just going to enjoy the beach?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that kind of like a…date?"

Kasumi furrowed her brow, though her brow didn't furrow all that much. "If you like, yes."

Ryoga smiled. He still liked Megumi, but Kasumi was just as pretty in a more mature way. Also, the girl could grow sword blades out of her arms, which was pretty awesome. He had to get back for his challenge to Ranma, but he could indulge himself for a moment or two.

"Do you go to the beach often, HIbiki-kun?" Kasumi asked. Her voice was pleasant and she had a nice expression on her face, but the abrupt change in attitude clued Ryoga in that she was pretending. It seemed it was something she was fond of doing.

"Yes," he answered hesitantly, deciding to simply take the question at face value. "I kind of like beaches. I'm more sure of where I am in places like this."

Kasumi nodded vaguely, her expression relaxing into melancholy. "You know, that might be why I like them as well."

"Do you get lost often?"

"No. I've only gotten lost once," Kasumi said, staring straight ahead as they walked, "It's just that I'm still trying to find my way back."

"Well," Ryoga spoke into the awkward silence. "Nice weather for it!"

Kasumi smiled, "Yes it is, isn't it?"

Ryoga wondered if Kasumi would let him hold her hand…

~~~~~End of Ch. 13~~~~~

Author notes:

This chapter took some unexpected turns. I love it when that happens. Usually.

Anyway I was originally planning on covering both the Kumon battle and the Ryoga battle this chapter, but then things went a bit awry when I was considering how Genma would feel about the situation.

I hope to have some sections in his pov next chapter, but just in case anyone is overly confused, Genma hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so he was literally hungry AND he had been under a great deal of emotional stress so he was figuratively hungry too, and that's basically what triggered his reaction.

The idea for the roast chicken bit actually was inspired from the anime. At one point Kasumi whips a dish of bamboo for Genma seemingly out of thin air. Of course this is just a comedic effect really, and probably shouldn't be paid attention to. Still it got me thinking about how if I were a in a position where I needed to make food quickly, and I had a way of summoning things…Also I get a kick out of juxtaposing the quotidian and the numinous. I'm silly like that.

Thanks for all your reviews. Hopefully this chapter satisfied those of you who like a little more martial arts in your martial arts stories. I've always been a fan of anime where the protagonist engages with his or her enemies in an orgy of violence and then waxes philosophical as the blood falls like rain. Maybe there could be more raining and less waxing, but I don't know. I kind of like the smooth feeling.


	14. The Rainmaker

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 14: The Rainmaker

Disclaimer: All the characters in this fanfiction are fictitious and originally from the mind of Takahashi Rumiko in the Ranma ½ manga and anime, which you should totally go out and buy if you haven't already. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Except in the case of Ashitaka Kataro. I saw him do a tap dancing routine on a street in New York. He had this trick where he would run kerosene through a plastic tube down to the tip of his shoe, and he'd start pouring it out with a release valve he had attached to his elbow. On the tip of his other shoe he put a piece of flint, so that at a critical moment in his routine he would make sparks fly out and hit the kerosene, making it seem like he was dancing so hard he was setting the ground on fire. It was a great trick. Later on after the police arrested him, I tracked down the prison he was taken to and got his life story. I told him that I'd put it in a book one day. But really his life story was pretty boring. He'll just have to be content to show up in this fanfiction instead.

~~~~~Ch.14: The Rainmaker~~~~~

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

The sunlight passing through the window was warm on his skin as Ryoga watched the scenery zoom past him. He had no idea where he was, he was almost sure he was going in the wrong direction, but to placate Kasumi he would try to relax. It was rather nice not having his face and shins whipped by branches and nettles. The company wasn't too bad either really. He rarely had company on his trips and when he did, his companion usually complained the whole time. Kasumi was…intense. She seemed somehow both sad and happy at the same time. And then there would be something that set her off and she'd be extremely angry for a moment.

The trees all had their leaves upturned. It was going to rain soon. Maybe tonight, maybe earlier. Ryoga felt his umbrella on his back, to reassure himself. He had been human a long time now. He was due to change again soon. He didn't want Kasumi or any of the other girls he met to know about the curse. He didn't want anybody to know about it, but it seemed like it would be worse if they knew.

"Haven't you ever been on a train before?" Kasumi asked.

Ryoga nodded. It was true, technically. He had been on a train, just not _inside_ one. He had been a pig at the time. He'd managed to find a space between two cars where he was protected from the wind and not likely to fall out. It still wasn't exactly fun. Very loud. And bumpy. Inside you could barely hear the wind and the bumps weren't noticeable at all. There were a lot of people though. He and Kasumi were standing almost pressed into each other hanging on to the ceiling rail. He could feel her body heat.

"I used to go more often. My mother would take me and my sisters shopping. It was fun seeing all the different areas of Tokyo. After she was killed…" A slight steeliness in her voice betrayed a rush of emotion. "Trains were just a way to get to my targets. And then… for a while now I haven't felt like going anywhere."

"Who killed her?"

Kasumi continued to watch the scenery pass by as she said, "I did."

"Huh?" Ryoga noticed that he and Kasumi suddenly had much more room. No one gave any other indication of having heard Kasumi, they just leaned and shuffled as far away from her as possible.

"Oka Kosuke was trying to take her away from Father. Said she belonged with him instead. He wouldn't have killed her. But I was so arrogant, so angry. I threatened him and it caused a fight. Father wasn't ready and Mom stepped in to protect him…"

"Uh…" Ryoga wasn't sure how to handle such emotions from someone else. "The guy still killed her right? He should pay for that."

Kasumi laughed sourly. "I know. And yet he's in China somewhere, probably ruining someone else's life. And I'm here, too afraid to leave Nerima. Uncle Saotome's right. I am a coward."

"You're just a girl though, what could you do?"

Kasumi extended her fingernails into a blade and nudged it under Ryoga's chin.

"Oh. Right."

Kasumi retracted her blade and looked down. "I couldn't do that back then. I was probably at about the level Akane is now. I swore vengeance. Cut my hair to look like a boy and went after my mother's killer."

"How old were you?"

"I was nine."

Ryoga nodded, swallowing. His decision to pursue Ranma at age fourteen seemed almost tame by comparison.

The PA announced the next stop and Kasumi gripped the ceiling bar tighter. "This is us."

Ryoga stood as well adjusting his pack so that it was under his arm and he could maneuver through the train more easily. "Do you think anything happened?" He didn't like how he left the situation with Megumi and her foster father.

Kasumi shook her head. "I've been thinking about it. Uncle Saotome isn't like me or you. He doesn't think in terms of fairness or punishment. For him, it's all about getting what he wants."

"Sounds like he's a jerk," Ryoga noted as the train came to a stop.

"It does," Kasumi allowed, "But then, I suppose it depends on _what_ he wants, doesn't it?"

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

All he wanted was his son back. To be a family again, with Nodoka and his son. Instead he was curled on the ground, the taste of chicken and failure in his mouth. He took a few deep breaths to collect himself before sitting up. There were too many clouds to judge the time accurately from the sun, but based on how bright it was, it seemed like it was about nine or so in the morning. School had started, which meant Ranma probably wasn't around. He'd have to wait until later to apologize. It was yet another sign that Ranma was a girl after all. In his life, Genma had only ever had to apologize to two kinds of people, cops and women. Everyone else, he'd fight it out or buy a round of sake and it would all be water under.

He tried not to let the thought hurt him too much. He couldn't relate to women. Even with the women he loved there was always an inscrutable veil between their world and his, something that provided both mystery and endless frustration. He could love a woman, but he didn't think he could be friends with one. He didn't know how to be a father to one.

"It's hard raising a teenager." Soun said from the porch, where he sat sipping tea. "You have a relationship with them as a child, but then they start changing. Becoming different people." Raising his cup as he looked off into the distance he said, "Dew on a petal/ Becomes a brilliant diamond/ Just before it falls."

"I've been trying to give him space. Let him decide on his own. But he promised me! And after I had to take care of the Kumon kid…"

"And you hadn't had breakfast."

Genma grit his teeth at that. It was true, but it was hard to take. All those years of keeping it together, all the things he did just to make sure he didn't slip, and after one skipped breakfast…"How is it that you have such control? Kasumi too for that matter."

"I fought …that man…for two days, almost non-stop." Soun said grimly. "Eventually I couldn't tell the difference between being one way and being the other. I started remembering. You remembered this time, didn't you?"

Genma nodded slowly. "It's like a dream though. I didn't mean to do any of that."

"If you surrender to the desire, if you let it become truly part of you, you can learn to control it. Somewhat. You know how the master was. " Soun sipped looking off into the distance.

Genma nodded. Happosai's desire was never as violent. He was constantly succumbing to Lust, gaining power from it while remaining mostly in control. But Genma's Desire was to consume. How was it even triggered?

There was a small _thok_ sound as Soun set his cup next to him on the porch. "It's really amazing we're such good friends. You want to change the world, I want to keep it the way it is. The Glutton and the Sloth."

"I don't want to change the world," Genma protested.

Soun got up, walked over to Genma and put a hand on his shoulder. "But you want Ranma to change the world for you. She is her own person. She has her own desires. Even if you succeed in forcing her to be what you want, all you will have done is to digest everything unique about her and crap her out into some poor facsimile of your dreams. "

Genma looked up at Soun. "You always did have a way with words, Tendo." he deadpanned.

Soun released Genma's shoulder. "If you're okay, I think I'll go back to sleep."

"Yes, go ahead," Genma waved him off, but in the next moment he felt a sudden pang of guilt. "Ancestors! I'm a terrible father."

"Let's not start that again," Tendo warned with a tired smile. The smile cooled though, and hardened into a scowl as Soun's attention drifted.

"What is it, Tendo?"

Finding himself again, Soun straitened a little. He gave Genma a glance, "It's nothing," he said, then turned around to head back into the house. Before he walked away, he paused. His back still turned to Genma he said, "I just thought that if I were a little more like you, maybe she'd still be alive."

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

"No! I mean, why would you even ask that?"

Kasumi shrugged her "who knows?" shrug as they walked through the market. "It would just make more sense if you were doing this out of love. A girl that age could disguise herself, and maybe you sensed something at an unconscious level , and there was an attraction."

Ryoga felt like Kasumi was telling him his arms were on the wrong way, it was that strange a concept. After he stared at Kasumi for most of a second trying to figure out if she were serious or not, he shook his head slowly, his eyes still wide with surprise and disgust. "There's just no way. I mean he couldn't be a girl any more than…Megumi could be a guy."

Kasumi just nodded silently, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Listen, I know it seems stupid, okay? You don't think I lie awake some nights wondering why I keep going after him?"

"Oh look! Watermelon!" Kasumi pointed at a fruit vender who had the spherical melons in a squat box on the ground in front of his kiosk. "It's a bit early for them. I wonder if they're really ripe?"

Ryoga scowled. He got the impression this was Kasumi's not so subtle way of saying she didn't give a shit. He followed her to the fruit stand and watched her haggle demurely with the vendor. He had never witnessed demure haggling before.

"I think Megumi likes sweet things. She'd probably love some watermelon. But we don't have enough money!" "Really? A discount? That's very kind, but I'm afraid we still don't have enough. Those watermelon look so good, it's a shame but…"

Ryoga began to be suspicious this might be an example of the "flirting" thing he'd heard about every now and then. It certainly wasn't a trick a guy could use. Ryoga tried to imagine Ranma talking that way and had to stifle his laughter.

After Kasumi made her purchase and Ryoga was carrying two spherical watermelons in bags, Kasumi asked, "What was so funny?"

"Just thinking of Ranma acting like a girl. There's really no way."

"Oh? So what conclusions do you reach when you're lying awake nights thinking about her? I mean him?"

"I didn't say that! It's not even really about Ranma. It's like…he was so damned frustrating. He got on my nerves every time. He manipulated me, mocked me, worked me up so much that I couldn't concentrate. He could find every weakness I had without even trying. I hate the bastard! But, beyond that, if I can beat him, maybe…"Ryoga let the sentence drift away. He'd already opened up to Kasumi more that he had with anyone, especially a girl, he wasn't quite ready to let everything out.

Kasumi didn't seem to need him to say it though. "You're hoping beating him will make you a better person."

"Something like that, yeah," Ryoga admitted, though it sounded stupid when she put it like that.

Kasumi stopped walking, and Ryoga stopped with her. "I think we should make a detour. There is something I want to see. Maybe you should see it too."

Ryoga shrugged, trying to convey that he had no idea where he was and was at her mercy anyway without having to actually say it.

Kasumi nodded and started walking briskly toward an alley. Ryoga followed her through the alley, down a sidewalk and across a pedestrian crossing. Then Kasumi waited until the song "Please Let Me Pass" issued from the speakers on a nearby poll. Although Ryoga could barely hear her above the sounds of traffic, Kasumi spoke one of the lines of the song: "To go there is easy, easy, but coming back is frightening." She seemed to take a moment to contemplate this before she crossed, Ryoga following. There was another alley another street. Another stretch of sidewalk. Ryoga suspected that even someone with an intact direction sense would have trouble figuring out where they were after following Kasumi like this.

Finally she stopped at an alley with a dumpster sitting at the dead end. "This is it," she said. She closed her eyes, and swallowed. Then she opened her eyes again. Resolutely, she walked to the dumpster. She knelt and felt the ground in a particular spot.

"This is what?"

"I killed a man here. It was supposed to be that Oka bastard. But…" Kasumi stared at the broken asphalt where she had put her hand. "It took me years to track Oka down. He was so careful. I should have realized…but the man was dressed just like Oka had been. The junkie who bought the drugs from him even called him by name. It was all I could do to wait for the junkie to leave before I attacked."

"Where did you hide?"

Kasumi's eyes snapped to Ryoga, "The dumpster. Where do you think?"

Ryoga had thought maybe the roof of one of the buildings, but they were too high up and he couldn't see a fire escape or anything. He might have been able to manage a jump from a roof if he used his umbrella, but that would have probably sacrificed any advantage from stealth.

"He was kneeling here, like I am now. He was about to open the briefcase to look at the money. That's when I burst out of the dumpster. I jumped over him and landed, facing him."

Kasumi stood and turned around holding an imaginary katana in her hand. "I saw his face. At that point some part of me realized he wasn't Oka, but it was too late. I was already attacking. I cut…all the way through his torso. Just like Oka had done to my mother. There was so much blood."

Kasumi stared at the scene before her for an uncomfortably long time.

Finally she slumped. "I want to cry. I want to let all this pain out of me, but I can't. There's just too much hate." Turning around, she found his eyes. "I didn't even have a moment of exaltation. There was just the hate, gripping horror, and then more hate."

"What did you do? Afterwards I mean."

Kasumi shook her head looking back at where the man had died. "I must have sheathed my sword, taken the money and ran. I don't remember it though. I just remember the blood, the look on the man's face." She looked up, squinting at the bright, yet cloudy sky overhead. "He wasn't even really a criminal. Oka had paid a salaryman to pretend to be him for the meeting."

Ryoga grimaced, tasting something sour and bitter in the back of his throat. As Kasumi was talking, he had been thinking that he would never do something so reckless as to not be sure who he was fighting before he attacked. But he had forgotten about Kumon Ryu. If he hadn't had the bars between him and Kumon, he might have attacked right away, weary as he was from days, months, even years on the road. And if Kumon had been someone innocent, someone who wasn't a martial artist…

"I am sorry I called you stupid earlier, Hibiki-kun," Kasumi said softly. "I can see that you understand."

Ryoga studied Kasumi's face. It was a kind face. Not her mask of vapid cheerfulness. Not her darker visage of suppressed anger. It was a face that calmly held the sadness Ryoga could see behind every expression. A face that somehow made sadness seem like a solid rock to stand on against the tumult of life.

For him sadness had always been a never-ending void. Something he could never get to the bottom of. Something that built on itself, getting larger and more unfathomable. It was strange seeing the same emotion being handled so differently. Ryoga looked away, self consciously. "I wish it hadn't happened to you. You seem like a nice person."

Kasumi sighed. "I'm a nice person _because_ this happened to me. It was my fault it happened in the first place. But thank you all the same." A slight pause, then: "I need to get away from here now. We should get back to the house." Kasumi walked briskly past Ryoga, out of the alley.

Ryoga noticed her hands, balled into fists, slivers of metal peeking through her skin and then receding. "Doesn't that hurt?" Ryoga asked, following her.

Without turning around, voice tight with strain, Kasumi answered, "All the time."

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

"Yes, Ranma and Akane told me what happened," Tofu's voice from the receiver sounded weary and concerned. "Is Kasumi back yet?"

"No, not yet," Genma said with a grimace.

"I shouldn't be concerned. She can handle herself, it's just… I need to talk to her."

"I know."

"Are you aware of the latest development with Ranma?"

Genma frowned. "I'm not sure."

Tofu sighed. "Ranma has a spirit living inside her. It's what caused the black outs. It's Akane's mother. Ranma asked me not to tell Akane and I tend to agree. It might be a bad idea to let her know."

Genma had of course known about Kirika's possession since yesterday, but there was no sense revealing that now. Addressing what Tofu had said about Akane, Genma said, "she's a little sensitive about her mother. There have been one or two arguments. Ranma's not great at keeping secrets though. Neither am I for that matter."

"Yes, she's going to have to be told soon. It's just a question of whether we should rip off the band-aid or try a gentle approach." There was a silence for a moment, then Tofu added, "Ranma can talk with her now. With…Kirika I mean. She just looks at some random spot and starts talking. I'm not sure it's healthy."

Genma didn't like the sound of that at all. "Was he acting any different aside from that?"

"You want to know if she's more feminine."

Genma didn't say anything.

"It's hard to say. If anything she seemed…happier. More sure of herself. I just worry that it might be some hasty conclusion she's come to."

"Are they there now?" Genma asked.

"No, I think Akane went to school, and Ranma said something about Kumon possibly showing up at his mother's house."

Genma was confused for a moment, but then he realized it made sense. Kumon would be after the scroll. Of course he would check Nodoka's house. "Thanks, Ono-kun." He was about to say good bye, but then he asked, "What about Nabiki?"

"Nabiki?"

"Was she there?"

"No. She must have gone on to school before them."

"Hmm. Okay. Thanks again. Bye." Genma hung up. He adjusted his glasses. It seemed there was going to a power play for the umisenken scroll and his poor wife was going to be in the middle of it.

The scene inside was rather surreal. Ranma in female form and Kumon Ryu seemed to be having afternoon tea, served cheerfully by his wife. Nodoka had a tea kettle in one hand, keeping the door open for him with the other. "Welcome home, husband! We have company, isn't that nice?"

Genma frowned at this. He hadn't seen Nodoka in more than ten years, all the time thinking she had gone crazy. Her current attitude didn't exactly do much to quell that suspicion. Still, one thing he had noticed in her letters to him, other than her obsession with how manly her son was, was how lonely she seemed. He supposed company would be a treat for her, even company as bracing as Kumon Ryu. "I see," he said softening his expression. "Have you and Kumon gotten to know one another, then?"

"He's trying to find the Umisenken scroll, Pops," Ranma informed him from the table. "Mom's just making the most of it."

"Megumi!" Nodoka admonished, "Don't be rude."

Genma took a breath between his teeth. Great. Nodoka was calling her that now too. Forcing himself not to focus too much on that he asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Ranma scowled. "Yeah, I'm supposed to be a lot of things. We both know that, don't we, Pops?" Shaking her head, she continued, "Anyhow, I was chasing after this mope," Ranma indicated Kumon with a finger, "for a couple hours before I figured he'd probably check out a phone book. Wound up here."

Genma nodded. "I figured as much." Addressing Kumon Genma said, " I guess you haven't given up yet?"

Kumon smirked, "I ain't given up on _shit._"

"Look, Mom's already told you she doesn't know where it is. I'm sorry about your dad and all, but that's as much his fault as my Pop's. Just let it go, would ya?"

"Stay out of it, bitch. It's none of your business. He ain't even your real father."

Ranma stared at the boy for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, he's gonna teach me the technique long before he'll ever teach it to you." Ranma sipped her tea.

"Genma, dear, why don't you sit down? I'll get you a cup. " Nodoka ushered Genma inside, closing the door and heading off to the kitchen.

Genma waited until she was in the kitchen before he spoke, "I'm not going to teach it to either of you. Ever."

Ranma's head snapped up, "What, so you're just going to teach it to Nabiki?"

"No, I'm not teaching it to her either. I was thinking about it, but when Kumon showed up it reminded me why I had sealed the senken techniques in the first place." Genma turned to Kumon, "When your father died, I swore never to teach the senken techniques to anyone, to keep something like that from ever happening again. I swore never to use them either, in case someone could learn from watching me."

"Well, that was kinda stupid. I mean Kumon's been doing nothing but use the Yamasenken since he showed up. I think I almost got the idea down. It ain't that complicated. Be better just to tell people it's dangerous. Not to practice it indoors and whatnot. If you actually taught the technique, instead of letting random people pick it up from some scroll you left around, it'd be safer."

"I didn't just leave the scrolls laying around, I kept them here for safe keeping." Genma said defensively.

Nodoka came back out and handed Genma a cup. He held it as she poured tea in.

"Hey, Ma. Why don't you tell Pops what you told me and Kumon? About where you think the scroll is?"

Nodoka thinned her lips. "Well, I don't know for sure, but I make meals for some of the older folk around town and I ran out of paper to wrap the meals up in. I started using some papers with your writing on it. I was never able to make out what they said. It could be that some of those papers were the scroll Megumi and Kumon are looking for."

Ranma raised her eyebrows pointedly.

Genma sat down and sipped his tea gingerly. "Maybe you have a point."

"So are you going to teach it to me or what?" Kumon asked.

Genma regarded the rude boy in army fatigues. There was something in the boy's eyes that was separate from the perpetual scowl . Something that reminded him of what Kasumi had said about him earlier that morning. It gave him a strange, sickening, and yet oddly appropriate idea. "No," he said, "I'm not going to teach the Umisenken to you. Not anytime soon anyway. But," Genma glanced at his wife for a moment, "Maybe we can come to an arrangement."

"Yeah? What?"

"I can't make up for what happened to your father. I can't give you back the years you spent looking for me. And I can't just teach you the technique either. Not without some assurances. There is one thing I could do, though. You might not like the idea, and it would depend on what my wife and Ranma…" Genma remembered about Ranma's secret identity, "…and Megumi think, but here it is: I could adopt you."

The room was silent for a long moment. Then Ranma stood up. "Excuse me. I've got to go punch something." She left the room walking at a brisk pace, and soon it was just Genma, Nodoka and Kumon.

Nodoka sat down next to Genma, smelling of green tea and jasmine. "I think this is a lovely idea. But I know it won't be easy for you, or for us to be honest. We need to know how you feel about it."

Kumon frowned. His facial expressions oscillated from anger to pain. Genma was already beginning to regret making his offer, and if the boy made one more angry epithet he was going to drag him out of the house by his ear. But Kumon closed his eyes and opened them slowly, looking down at the table. "Okay," he said. "I'm keeping my name, but…okay." And there, on the boy's face, was the look Genma had only seen glimpses of before. The look of hope, mixed with a good deal of sorrow.

Genma swallowed. He got up, patting Kumon on the shoulder once before turning around. He saw Nodoka wiping a tear from her eye. This was not a decision he could unmake.

Ranma was just going to have to deal with it.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga followed the aroma into the kitchen. Kasumi was stirring something in a pot. "That smells really good."

Kasumi gave him a quick glance, and flashed a smile. "Thanks." Turning back around, she said, "Cooking is one of the few things that help me forget. Ever since Ranma…and Megumi have come though, Megumi and Akane have been monopolizing the kitchen."

Ryoga nodded, realized Kasumi couldn't hear him nod, and said, "Uh huh."

Kasumi held up an index finger, extended a blade from the tip and then used it to slice a tomato. "Yes, this works much better," she murmured to herself. Louder, to Ryoga she said, "I've been trying to suppress the blades. Trying to keep from expressing the anger. I was very good at it. But, Ra…Megumi just managed to hit every nerve of mine. I don't think she was even trying to annoy me. I just lost all my control. All at once. I attacked her, almost killed her… She forgave me." Her voice quavered at the end.

"Does she know? " Ryoga asked, "About what you did?"

"She knows the broad strokes from me. She may have gotten more from one of my sisters." Kasumi shrugged. "I'm still trying not to hate her. Does that make any sense to you? She hasn't done anything wrong and yet still…"

Ryoga though about it. "Yeah," he said, "It does. I don't really understand it either, but I've felt that way I think. Megumi seems so nice, though. "

Kasumi slid the sliced tomatoes onto a plate and turned around. "She is nice. It's just…" Kasumi's eyes drifted, "she always has this smugness about her. Like her way is always the best. No that's not quite it…" She looked up in thought. "She's like a cloud. She just drifts through, above everything, but she's what makes it rain."

"Heh, sounds a lot like…" Ryoga frowned. Little clues he'd gotten over the last day and a half slid into place. Megumi. Red-head. Panda. Jusenkyo. China….Ranma? He reviewed the facts in his head, but it still worked out to be possible. If Ranma had gotten a curse… "Hey, um…Kasumi-san? Is Megumi …Ranma?"

Kasumi smiled and turned back around. "Oh poo. You figured it out."

"Wait, you wanted me to figure it out? Why not just tell me?"

Kasumi shook her head as she picked up an onion. "It's not that exactly. I was keeping her real name a secret because she is a guest and my father would want her to be safe. Also she has some virtues which I've recently been made aware of. But, I do still sort of hate her. I don't think you're going to actually kill her. And it doesn't seem right anymore to hide her true identity from you. Finally, I think it's funny how you figured it out."

Ryoga thought about it and chuckled. "Wow. I hated the guy and I only saw him at Junior high. I couldn't imagine having to live with him."

Kasumi shook her head, "She's only been here a few weeks. You've known her longer. " Her gaze drifted again as her smile faded. "Of course right from the start she destroyed my harmony. She wasn't here five minutes before she was accusing Nabiki of being a pervert. And of course because she accused Nabiki, Nabiki had to shift the blame to everyone else around her, including me. I don't care what kind of book it is, it can't be as perverted as taking naked pictures of your sister. Besides, I can't have a boyfriend, can I?"

"Why not?" Ryoga asked.

Kasumi frowned. "That's…personal." She lifted a finger, her eyes widening as her rant got back on course. " And then Ranma took over the kitchen, trying to teach Akane to cook. Akane is a lovely girl with a lot of wonderful qualities, but cooking is NOT one of them. She very nearly ruined the stove! And Ranma's still hogging the kitchen whenever she gets the chance. And getting Nabiki to train again… You think I don't miss it? It was all I ever wanted to do at one time. But I can't start practicing the physical parts again. I can't risk hurting someone by accident. I can't stand it. Every time the news comes on there's some story of some poor innocent person getting hurt by violence. It's sick! And yet here I am just wanting to HIT something! Only every time I try, these stupid fucking blades come out!" Kasumi made an abrupt sweeping motion with her arm and a long, machete-sized blade flew from it, lodging itself in the opposite wall.

Ryoga swallowed as he watched it melt into a puddle of blood.

"Shit. Now I'm going to have to clean that up. And I was just getting over Uncle Saotome's attack. I'll probably be woozy for hours again."

"I can help, "Ryoga offered.

"NO!" Kasumi almost screamed. "This is MY kitchen! MY mess. MY blood. I will clean it up." She blinked, straightened, her face softening. "Thank you, Hibiki-kun, but I have this taken care of."She turned, opened a bottom cabinet and retrieved a roll of paper towels and some bleach.

Ryoga might have argued the point, but he wasn't sure if he could use himself as a counter example or not. His gaze fell on the mop leaning against the door frame of the open closet in the back of the kitchen. He grabbed it, jabbed the business end of the thing into the sink and turned on the water.

"What are you doing? I told you this was my mess to clean up."

"I know," Ryoga said with a shrug. "Still, take it from someone who gets lost all the time, sometimes it's good to let someone help you." He smiled. "You get the wall; I'll get the floor."

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

He looked up at the clock tower. School would be out in an hour. He had tried the Tendos first. The Hibiki kid had been there, helping Kasumi clean in the kitchen, but Ranma wasn't anywhere around. As if things weren't complicated enough already. If Ranma was running away…

Genma shook his head. Ranma had friends at school. And he had a challenge afterward. He wasn't having some sort of hissy fit. Genma wouldn't have to watch Ranma sob into her hands or anything. Ranma was still Ranma. She was just a girl most of the time now.

Genma looked around. He would have liked to use the Umisenken, but there were too many people around, and Nabiki might have some sort of spy network in place. Even without that possibility, he already had enough trouble from using it that one time. He should have kept the damned sealed technique sealed.

"You a substitute or something?" A boy in a Furinkan uniform asked. He looked older. A senior probably.

Genma glanced back at the school. Old as he was and dressed as he was, there was no hope of going in unnoticed. Genma decided to go with the truth. "I'm the father of one of the students. I need to talk with her."

The boy nodded, "You don't want her to be embarrassed though, is that it?"

"Something like that."

"Cool. Well, I'll tell someone from FuMa and they'll relay the message."

"FuMa?"

"Yeah. The Furinkan Protection committee. You will know a FuMa by their blue within blue arm bands. I can't just deliver the message directly; you might be some kind of pervert."

Genma frowned. He had heard that Nabiki had started some sort of organization at school, but this was more organized than he would have thought. "My…daughter is Saotome Ranma." It still made Genma sick to say that.

"Oh you're Ranma's dad? Why didn't you say so? She's like, one of the founding members of FuMa. I'll let her know right away." The boy ran off.

Genma waited impatiently for about five minutes, then two girls and a boy, all wearing blue striped arm bands, walked out of the school toward him. Ranma wasn't one of them, but Genma recognized Daisuke, the boy he had caught spying for Nabiki in the public baths. Genma could tell he didn't want to be there.

"Ranma doesn't want to see you now," The taller of the two girls said officiously. "If you would like to schedule a challenge though, I'd be happy to do that for you. She has a slot free next week."

"I'm his father! I'm not going to-"

"Listen," Daisuke started, "Ranma doesn't want to see you. She says she has to think about stuff or whatever. I know you're her dad, and you could beat all of us up if you wanted, but there are three of us, and Kuonko's got connections even scarier than Nabiki's." Daisuke pointed to the girl who had been silent up till then, a rather short girl with black hair in a short ponytail. She lazily examined her nails, the sleeve of her uniform dropping just enough to show the beginnings of an ornate tattoo below her wrist. "Just let Ranma cool off," Daisuke advised.

Genma looked around the three students, trying to see if he could sneak in somehow. But there was no way. Not in broad daylight. Not without the umisenken. He felt his stomach grumble.

He backed away in alarm. "I'll talk to him later," he said and walked briskly away. His stomach growled again. He had just eaten. He couldn't be hungry.

Genma closed his eyes. He just wanted his son back.

Visions of tearing Daisuke and his companions apart with his hands and teeth entered his mind like visiting in-laws. He couldn't get rid of them. He had to get away as quickly as possible.

He had to eat something soon. He'd prefer it not to be human.

"Feeling better?" Nabiki asked.

Genma looked around, catching his breath. He was on a bench next to a Takoyaki restaurant at the market, the taste of grilled octopus still in his mouth. If he tried he was able to recall how he had gotten here, but it was still dreamlike. He blinked the mental fuzz away, finally realizing Nabiki was there, and that the girl had asked him a question. He nodded by way of a reply, then he asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Nabiki turned away, kicking her feet out, "Oh, just playing hooky. My way of rebelling I guess."

"You're up to something."

Nabiki gave him a bright smile, "Uncle Saotome, I'm _always_ up to something."

That was true enough. Genma looked at the bag on his lap and pulled out another octopus. "I would have thought you would be at Nodoka's house, scheming to get the Umisenken scroll." He bit into the morsel, willing it to calm him down.

Nabiki grimaced, and looked ahead of her. "Something more important came up."

"Oh?"

"You know about Ranma? What was causing the black outs?"

"Yes…" Genma said cautiously, not sure how much Nabiki knew.

"My mother said good bye to me today. Me and Akane. Ranma let her take over for a while. I'm not sure Akane understood what happened, but I've known for several days now."

"I'm sorry, It must have been hard on you. It's hard on me, for different reasons but still…"

Nabiki lifted her hand up. "You don't get it. Something's changed. She said 'good bye' not 'hello girls, sorry for the awkward visit.' She's leaving."

Genma didn't say anything, not wanting to show how pleased he was at this news.

"I can't let her die again."

Genma put the rest of the octopus in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "Excuse me, but what can you do about it, exactly?"

Nabiki stood, stretching. "Uncle Saotome, I'm afraid I can't reveal that information just yet." She turned toward him smiling sadly. "Suffice to say that there's a good way I can get what I want, and a bad way. I'm trying for the good way, but if that doesn't work…"

Genma frowned. He stood up himself, taking advantage of his height to look down at Nabiki. "If you are threatening me, girl, you need to be more specific."

Nabiki looked up, her one visible eye matching his gaze unerringly. The pale blue iris so like her mother's. "Actually, no, I don't. Like I said, I hope it won't come to it, Sensei. I like you, and I like Ranma. But if I have to lose both of you to get my mother back, then you should know I've already made my decision."

Not thinking, Genma grabbed the front of Nabiki's blouse. "You're going to tell me what you mean, girl, or…"

"You'll beat me in front of this crowd of people?" Nabiki asked.

Genma looked around. Some people were already starting to stare. He let go of Nabiki.

"I'm telling you this as a courtesy. Get over this tiff with your daughter. Just let her be who she wants to be. Life is short." With that, Nabiki walked away.

It was definitely a threat, but the incongruity of it was off putting. Genma was trying to figure out how to respond as he watched her enter a pet store.

"A pet store?" He asked out loud.

Then, percolating up from the back of his brain was another incongruity. Didn't Nabiki have brown eyes? Genma tried to remember. He didn't know Nabiki that well. And which eye was it that had the patch?

There were too many unknowns for comfort, and there wasn't any law against it, so Genma followed Nabiki inside the pet store. He might have tried the Umisenken under different circumstances, but Nabiki was sharp and her will strong. It would be really bad if she figured out the technique. You had to be able to quench your ki down without letting it die completely. She could kill herself trying to perform it. Genma wasn't as sure as he was a few minutes ago, but he was still of the opinion that that would be a bad thing. As it was, he couldn't see any downside to Nabiki knowing he was following her, so he didn't try to hide himself.

He watched as Nabiki went inside the puppy and kitten room and opened one of the cages. She picked up the puppy inside, set it down next to the wall of the room with the large window facing out into the rest of the store, and walked to the other side, watching the animal intently. After a few moments, she picked up the puppy and put it back in its cage. Genma opened the door. "Nabiki, what are you doing?"

"This is part of plan A," Nabiki said without looking at Genma , "You want to help? Go grab a puppy."

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

"What are you going to do?" Kasumi asked as they approached the school.

"I'm going to fight him," Ryoga responded simply.

"Even after everything I've told you?"

"Partly because of it. Kasumi-neesan, I'm not going to kill him. I don't think I ever was. But he has a lot to answer for, and there are some things that just can't be resolved by polite conversation."

Kasumi smiled. "You might be right. Hibiki-kun." She looked up, and Ryoga followed her gaze to the clock tower. "I'll leave you here. There are some people that know me here that I'd rather not meet. At least, not yet."

"Why not?" Ryoga asked.

Kasumi's deep brown eyes focused on Ryoga for a moment. "I forced myself to accept many cruelties while I was here." Kasumi's eyes drifted back to the school. "Some of them have yet to be atoned for." She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Good luck, Hibiki-kun," she said opening her eyes again. "Kick her ass."

Ryoga thanked her, said good bye, and watched her leave. She walked at a normal pace for a young woman in a long dress, but he couldn't quite dismiss the sense that each step was a spring coiling tighter and tighter.

Ryoga found someone to take him to where the fight was to be held. It was an old abandoned lot that had seen much better days. There were craters in the ground that were chest deep if they were a foot and various pieces of sports equipment that lay broken and buried in the earth like tombstones. Here and there a miraculously untouched patch of grass clung desperately to the muddy soil, testaments to the violence that was done here.

Ryoga smiled. His kind of place.

He decided to watch Ranma's other challenge from the side of a neighboring building. There were several other people there as well. One girl was asking for people to place bets. Ryoga sat down in a good spot and made himself comfortable. Now that he knew "Megumi" was really his rival, he could get a better idea of his fighting level by watching him. Her. Whatever

The boy Ranma was fighting was dressed in a tuxedo minus the jacket. He had his feet in a foppish mockery of a European fencing position. European fencing was already foppish to begin with really, but at least it had some basis in defense and attack. This guy was going for prettiness.

Ryoga had nothing but disdain for such people. He had encountered them several times as he stayed at different temples and dojos honing his martial arts. People who were all about perfecting a technique, instead of its execution.

Ranma, by contrast, was almost exactly as Ryoga remembered him, only female and with red hair. She had the same arrogant half-stance. The same cool confidence in her eyes. The same irritating smirk. If Ryoga had seen her like this, he would have known right away who she really was.

"Saotome Ranma!" The boy in the suit called out, "I, Ashitaka Kataro shall waltz in _contrapunto_ to the beating of your heart!"

"Oh yeah? Well, how about I counter punt your face!" Ranma stepped forward but didn't attack. She was being cautious. Interesting.

Kataro moved the tip of his shoe along the ground in a elegant semi circle. Flames leapt up where his foot had touched the ground. Ashikata raised his hand in a welcoming gesture. "Shall we dance?"

Ryoga could feel the heat from where he was sitting, and the bright flames, made it hard to see. He leapt to the roof for a better view. He was surprised to find another man there. He was wearing a blue and black kendo hakama and standing precariously close to the edge as he watched the fight.

Looking down, Ryoga could see that Ranma still had not advanced. The dancer's strategy had to hinge on Ranma making the first move. It was possible that Kataro had taken lessons from an Aikido master and was somehow adapting ballroom dancing to that discipline. A poor match for Ranma. Ranma never committed to anything. Even when he attacked he always held most of his power back. The dancer wasn't going to be able to throw him. But there was another pattern emerging. Kataro was moving in spinning circles around Ranma as he feinted. And the circles were getting tighter. A spiral!

But to what purpose? He was just decreasing the amount of room for both of them. Ryoga smiled as he realized: Ashikata's suit was fireproof!

The dancer was very close to Ranma now, and was starting to send tentative jabs her way. The red head dodged each of these easily and for a few moments it seemed as if she and Ashikata were actually dancing together.

Then Ranma grabbed Ashitaka's wrist and wrapped her arm around his waist. She pressed him close, looking into his eyes. Suddenly she was Megumi again. She was a girl dancing with a guy. She whispered something. Then she twirled suddenly flinging Ashitaka onto the ground, smothering the flames in that area. Ranma leaped from her area onto Ashitaka's back, and then into one of the craters in the lot and then to the side of the lot that was free of flames.

Ashitaka got up, and rushed through the fire toward Ranma. "I didn't finish my dance yet!" he yelled

Ranma let him get just close enough so that she could nail him in the temple with a roundhouse. Ryoga could almost hear his brains sloshing in his skull. Definite knockout. Possible concussion, but that was it.

Ranma had shown constraint.

"Something is troubling her," the man beside Ryoga said. Ryoga was a little startled; he had forgotten about him. "She normally takes more time with her challengers." The man turned to address him directly. "May I ask your name, sir?"

Ryoga gave the scene of battle another glance before responding. Two students were taking Ashitaka away. Ranma was leaning against the fence apparently watching the fires gutter out in the mud. "I'm Hibi-"

"Nay, verily I should proffer my own name first, as a courtesy. I am the rising star of Furinkan high school the leader of the kendo team, the Blue Thunder Kuno Tatewaki." As if on cue, there was a rumble of thunder in the distance. Ryoga nervously slid his umbrella from behind his back. He looked up at the sky. The clouds had been gathering all day but they had seemed bright white and cheerful. Now there was what looked like an ugly bruise on the horizon. Ryoga grimaced this was really not a good time for rain.

"Like I was about to say, my name is Hibiki Ryoga. I have no school or station. "

Ryoga could tell Kuno was disgusted by this. "And what, may I ask, is the nature of your interest in Saotome Ranma?"

"I am here to challenge her…brother."

"I was not aware she had a brother."

Ryoga looked up in exasperation. Now _he_ was lying for the bastard. "He's her half brother? I think. I don't know. Point is I have a score to settle with him, and she's supposed to get him to show up."

"Is she close to her brother?"

"I guess you could say that…"

"Perchance you are the reason she is disturbed?"

Ryoga bit down a comment about her being disturbed long before. Instead he said, "I doubt it. She's got other issues right now."

"Oh?" Kuno put some acid into the question. Ryoga wasn't sure why, but Kuno seemed to be getting angry.

"Yeah well, her father went psycho for one, and there's this guy who's trying to steal one of her family's secret techniques. I don't know all the details. I was just looking for her brother."

Kuno seemed to relax at this. "Would I be correct in surmising that you will not do her brother any undue harm? You will not do anything that would cause her distress?"

"I suppose not, no." Kuno's concern was starting to peeve Ryoga. Ranma was playing with this guy's heart, just like she had when she was pretending to be Megumi. And that move just now with Ashitaka. That was just cruel.

"Then I shall explain the situation to her." Kuno rushed past Ryoga.

He was just about at the roof's edge, when Ryoga said, "You know, she's not worth it."

Kuno turned slowly. "What did you just say?"

"Uh, I'm just saying. If you try to get close to her, you'll regret it."

Kuno pointed his wooden sword at Ryoga's nose. "How dare you speak with such familiarity about Saotome Ranma!"

Ryoga scratched the back of his head. "I guess I take it back." He couldn't figure out a way to explain how he knew Ranma was bad news without talking about the curse or making it seem like she was an ex-girlfriend or something, and Ryoga had the impression that that either of those options would complicate the next hour or so of his life too much.

"Lucky for you, I've not the time to tarry, else I would smite thee very smartly for thy insolence." Kuno turned toward the edge. He paused for a moment, seeming to steel himself, and then he jumped.

Ryoga figured Kuno must have just learned to use ki to strengthen his legs. That put him several years behind Ryoga in acrobatic skill. Still hard to tell about his fighting ability. Ryoga might have guessed Kuno to be the same kind of fighter as Ashikata, except he had a different kind of intensity. It was as if the kendoist had an itch he couldn't scratch.

Ryoga didn't care what Kuno's problem was. He just wanted him to stop talking to Ranma so he could have his challenge.

~~~~~Genma~~~~~

"It's no use," Nabiki sat on the floor, her back against the wall of the pet shop. She rubbed her temples. "We tried everything. Even the tarantulas. And I hate tarantulas."

Genma marveled at how completely oblivious Nabiki was being about the looks she was getting from the customers and clerks. "It would help if I knew what you were trying to do," Genma pointed out.

"I seriously doubt that," Nabiki said. "You can leave any time, you know."

For the last half hour he had been getting things out of cages and aquariums and setting them free some distance away from the eye patched, helmet-haired girl, only to hurriedly incarcerate them again when they wandered off. He got the impression that Nabiki wanted them to approach her. One time, earlier on she had gotten excited when a rabbit made a tentative hop in her direction, but it veered off right afterward and no matter how many times Genma repositioned it, it wouldn't approach Nabiki again. It was actually getting rather strange just how many animals avoided the girl. If she had anything like animal magnetism, something must have reversed her polarity.

"Maybe we could go to the woods. Lots of animals there."

Nabiki lowered her head, her visible eye squeezed shut. "This is so stupid!"

Genma was inclined to agree. He was seriously thinking about leaving the girl, except the girl was Nabiki. The possibility that this was all an elaborate ruse to get him to leave her alone to accomplish some nefarious task was very real. He crossed the space between him and the girl and stood next to her, leaning against the wall as he looked at the other people with nervous smiles.

"You know," he said after a few moments. "You might just be trying too hard. Sand slips faster from a tight fist and all that."

Nabiki looked up at him with her visible eye. Genma could see the scarring now, underneath the makeup Nabiki had covered it with. She looked away. "Could be," she said seeming to consider it.

"I'm glad your eye has healed."

Nabiki shrugged. "I showed Ranma this morning. I figured everybody else would find out soon anyway. No need to hide it anymore."

"So… the patch?"

"I have a hard time focusing without it. Two different colors at once. Different brightnesses too. "

"Still not going to tell me your plan?"

"Nope." Nabiki lifted herself onto her feet. And started walking past all of the cages seeming to head out the door.

"Wait, you're leaving now?" He was really getting sick of this. For all he knew Nabiki was just toying with him. Wanting to get back at him for knocking her out or something. He considered just letting her go. But it could be that she was trying to get him to go away. Wincing, Genma realized he was already following her out of the store. He was being manipulated. By a seventeen year old girl.

He followed her down the street. She seemed to be heading back to her house, but then she stopped. "Hey," Genma said, "You're going to Shiratori-san's house."

Nabiki turned around. "Uncle Saotome, your powers of deduction amaze me."

Nabiki's plan had something to do with that spooky old lady?

Genma had about two seconds to ponder this before something metallic and full of water impacted against the back of his head.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

The wind was starting to pick up. Ryoga could smell the sea on it. It was going to be a cold rain. Most of the previous audience had gone inside already. Ranma had managed to punt Kuno into the next block, and so there was no reason for Ryoga not to pursue his challenge. The sky was a dirty grey now, bleaching the color out of everything. Ranma's hair almost looked like a normal shade of red under this light. The abandoned lot was still smoking with low guttering flames, black soot stains marking where Ashitaka had sprayed kerosene from his dance shoes.

"So how did you find out?" she asked. She had already fallen into her deceptively casual fighting stance that wasn't a stance so much as an attitude.

"I was talking to Kasumi and figured it out from what she said." Ryoga held his umbrella closed and angled down to the side. He grabbed some bandanas from his forehead with his right hand. His mother had taught him how to fill fabric with his ki. The same principles that worked for gymnastics ribbons worked for the far more practical bandannas.

"So she knows I'm a guy? She always treats me like a girl. I thought maybe she didn't know."

Ryoga shook his head. "You haven't changed, Ranma. Even as a girl, you're still an inconsiderate ass!" He threw the bandanas at Ranma in a volley.

Ranma, predictably, dodged them effortlessly, but her movements allowed Ryoga to gauge her skill. She was definitely more agile than when Ryoga knew her. But her reach as a girl wasn't as long. And it didn't look like she had a lot of muscle in her arms. Of course she could compensate with ki, but she would have to concentrate to maintain it. If the muscle was there, the ki came through quicker and was more stable.

"Look, Ryoga, I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge you back in Junior high," Ranma said while Ryoga got more bandanas, "but I didn't even know you. I was only there for half a year and then Pops and me went to China."

"Oh you remember China, do you?" Ryoga let the bandanas loose again, this time looking for any blindspots in Ranma's vision. There weren't any . "I suppose you remember knocking someone off a mountain?"

"Yeah…Wait…" Ranma's eyes widened. "That was you?"

"Yes that was me!" Ryoga charged Ranma, swiping at the girl with his umbrella. "And thanks," (swipe)" for checking," (swipe) "to see if I was alright!" Ranma having dodged all of his blows, Ryoga shoved the point of the umbrella into the ground, causing a small pressure wave around the tip. If Ranma had been in the radius, she would have maybe broken an ankle, but of course she leapt up before the pressure wave hit.

"Were you hurt? You didn't fall into a spring did you?"

"Because of you, I've seen hell!" Ryoga opened his umbrella and threw it spinning toward Ranma , angling it so it would return. Ranma dodged, but Ryoga rushed to where he knew she would have to dodge and grabbed her wrist. With surprising ease he twisted it behind Ranma's back and forced her into the ground. She let out a grunt of pain. Ryoga snatched the umbrella from the air as it returned. For the moment he had her, but he could feel her filling her arms and legs with ki like a fuzzy pins and needles sensation.

Thunder crashed and the first drops of rain fell from the sky.

Ranma was breaking free from his hold, but it didn't matter. If Ryoga had really wanted to, he could have killed her in that moment. He had won.

He got off of her holding his umbrella over his head to block the rain.

Heavy droplets splashed onto Ranmas back as she got up. Her body changed, grew thicker and taller. He was male, just as Ryoga had remembered him. Male, after getting hit with cold water.

Ryoga blinked. If Ranma was male with cold water then…

Ranma was a girl.

He had been a girl the whole time.

"Alright, now I'm pissed," Ranma growled.

"You're…a girl," Ryoga said intelligently.

Ranma leg swept Ryoga's feet out from under him and he fell onto his back. "Not at the moment, bucko," Ranma said. He jumped in the air, somersaulting once before landing on Ryoga's stomach. He grabbed the umbrella, which Ryoga had dropped in his surprise, closed it and pointed it at Ryoga's nose. Ranma might have said some other witty epithet then, but Ryoga was saved from that indignity by his curse, which changed him abruptly into a small pig in that instant.

Ryoga sped away from the scene as fast as he could, and he had always found his pig form to be alarmingly fast. He just had to look in a direction and ZOOM he was there. It would have been a useful upside to an otherwise pitiful curse, except that he still had his terrible sense of direction.

After only a minute of running, or scurrying, or whatever it was that pigs did through the rain. Ryoga stopped somewhere in the city with absolutely no idea where he was. It wasn't good to be a pig in the city. Animal control was not your friend in such a situation. Ryoga looked around, trying to figure out which way would lead to a wooded area the fastest. When he turned to his left, though he saw a teenaged girl and an old woman dragging a panda into a house. Ryoga blinked. He remembered there had been a panda last night at the Tendos, and sure enough the teenager was the middle sister Nabiki. The scary one with the eyepatch.

Ryoga looked around, measuring his options. If he stayed with the Nabiki girl, he'd at least know where he was, and maybe he could figure out his next move from there. Or he could risk getting tranqued by some stealthy pig catcher.

Ryoga approached Nabiki.

"Okay," Nabiki said, letting go of the panda for a moment to wipe the rain water from her eyes. "We're making a note. Next time we want to knock out Uncle Saotome, we're doing it _inside_ the house."

"Everything happens for a reason, child," the old lady said, smiling, Then she pointed at Ryoga.

Nabiki turned to see Ryoga. Her visible eye widened. "Hey, there! You want to come closer? " she dug in her jeans pocket for something. "Chiin chiin!" she said holding up what looked like a doggie treat. To the old lady she said, "I'm better with dogs, but pigs like treats too, right?"

Ryoga spent some time trying to figure out exactly how much humiliation he was willing to endure in this situation. He decided he would get closer, but he wouldn't take the treat. He let Nabiki pick him up. She checked his genitals.

"It's a male pig. He's kind of cute though. I guess it could work, right?"

"I believe it could work, yes, child," the old lady said. Lightning flashed in the distance after she said this, followed by a quick crash of thunder, like two hits on a snare drum and one on a bass.

Nabiki addressed Ryoga then, lifting him so she could look into his eyes. "What do you say, little guy? You want to be my familiar?"

~~~~~End of Chapter 14~~~~~

~~~~~Author notes~~~~~

Maybe this still counts as Genma bashing. I don't know. I happen to think Genma is one of the more entertaining characters in the series. Full of wisdom one minute, a complete idiot the next. There's just the pesky child abuse issue.

I just don't think any semi-serious Ranma fanfiction can have Genma in it without showing a little of his dark side. And the fork is strong with him (sorry ^_^;) So he basically has a REALLY bad case of hypoglycaemia. At least he isn't going out every night and getting drunk. Oh wait...Hmmm...He's just an innocent panda!

You can see how Ryoga and Kasumi have a reason for disliking Ranma. Even if it is largely because they're control freaks.

By the way, be glad that this fic isn't a lemon, because the scene where Ryoga and Kasumi clean up the blood in the kitchen would have been a _lot_ more disgusting.

I should point out that that scene is a bit of meta-humor along the lines of WAFF+gore=funny. If you do not agree with that calculation, I apologize. I watched too many horror movies when I was kid.

And just to be clear, I don't really do match ups. I don't really know for sure whom Ryoga is going to end up with. I don't really know who anyone is going to end up with. I have my suspicions and some things that I'm rooting for, but while I probably have a better idea than you do what's going to happen, it's still something of a mystery. Just because two characters have some WAFF together doesn't mean they're going to end up doing it. At least not in this fic. That's probably some kind of trope rule.

Nabiki gets to be a little evil in this chapter, which I like. Her alignment is definitely chaotic neutral. She's also, apparently, some kind of witch, but we'll get into that later.

Kumon Ryu. Didn't get time to show it in this chapter, but his adoption isn't exactly the hallmark movie of the year it seems to be. I had to have it happen because some part of me loved the idea, but I'm pretty sure it was the evil, sadistic part.

Thanks as always to everyone who gave a review. You are all awesome for reading, but those of you who leave a review are just a _tiny_ bit better than everyone else.


	15. We Will Rise

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot

Ch.15: We Will Rise

In this chapter, we see what happened while Ranma was in school before the fight with Ryoga. Also, Akane's soul gets torn apart by a demon.

Disclaimer: Takahashi Rumiko and the various production agencies she is affiliated with are the owners of the characters and plot of Ranma ½. I recently watched part of the Ranma ½ live action movie, though, so I no longer feel bad for any mistakes I might make.

~~~~~Ch.`15: We Will Rise~~~~~

~~~~~Ranma, 6 hours before the fight with Ryoga ~~~~~

After showing up to class late and carrying water for a few minutes in the hall, Ranma found school much as it had been the day before: long periods of boredom punctuated by spasms of social interaction. Akane passed her a note: "What's going on?"

Ranma wrote back: "Found Kumon. Pops adopted him."

Akane turned around in her chair. "What?"

The teacher paused in his lecture. "Tendo-san, normally I would take offense to such an outburst, but I'm sure Saotome-san was just telling you about the technology advanced during the Meiji era and you were just expressing your shock and amazement. Perhaps you would like to share with the class?"

"They adopted him? I mean," Akane collected herself and addressed the teacher. "Much of the technology of that time was adopted from the West."

"Such as?"

"The uh…bicycle, the steam engine?"

"Very good." The teacher went back to his droning.

Akane passed Ranma another note. This just had three question marks on it underlined several times.

Ranma just wrote "After class."

For the rest of class Ranma tried to figure out what she was going to say as she watched Akane give her confused glances. When the end of class finally came it was almost a relief. Almost.

"So? Your father adopted Kumon?" Akane asked in the hall after the period ended.

"Yeah. Like I wrote in the note," Ranma nodded. Everything she had thought about saying now seemed stupid anyway.

"But…why? How did that happen? Are you okay with it?"

Ranma was just trying to figure out which question to answer and how when someone touched her shoulder. She turned to see a girl her size with long straight hair. "Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Nabiki–sama isn't here, and there's some FuMa business that needs taking care of. Do you mind?" She gestured for Ranma to go ahead of her.

Ranma looked at Akane and all her uncomfortable questions, and then again at the mousy girl with the convenient distraction. "I'll catch you later, Akane, okay?"

"Hey, I'm part of FuMa too!" Akane protested. "I'm Nabiki's sister!"

The mousy girl bit her lip. "There's been a complaint raised against you. Last time this happened, Nabiki said we shouldn't let you know about it."

"Why not? I have a right to face my accuser, don't I?"

"You've already, ah, faced him."

"Him?"

"Mishima Jiro. He has a broken arm now. He claims you used excessive force when he accidentally brushed his hand against you."

"He grabbed my ass! What was I supposed to do, thank him?"

The girl turned to Ranma, pointedly ignoring Akane. "It's not that Akane wasn't right to do what she did, it's just that Jiro's family has a lot of influence in Nerima, and if there are any complaints made against FuMa, it might be forcefully disbanded."

"Damn. Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Ranma asked.

"I'm not sure, or else I would do it myself. Nabiki would always find ways out of these situations, but she isn't here. My name is Tomo Hoko. I usually help her by finding people with the skill sets needed to accomplish things she wants, but she's the one who can figure out how to get them to do things."

"Well, you're out of luck, Tomo-san. I can't read people like she can, and I ain't gonna manipulate people like she does either."

Hoko shook her head. "Of course not. I'm not expecting you to be another Nabiki-sama. But I've watched your fights, and you have a certain ability to improvise that might be helpful here."

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Akane asked.

"You're fiercely loyal, and you have a strong sense of morality. You also have a great deal of courage, and unbending discipline. But while these qualities are excellent in many situations, here I think we need someone who is able to bend a little to accomplish something."

"I can bend!"

"Maybe you can, Akane-san. I wouldn't presume to know the extent of your abilities. But based on my observations, Ranma-san is more apt to change tactics if necessary, whereas you tend to use the same tactic with greater and greater force. Also, because you are the party that is being accused, I don't think it would be especially prudent to involve you in the negotiations if it can be helped."

"Let me take care of this, Akane," Ranma said. "I really need to not think about what's going on for awhile."

Akane frowned and then nodded.

"Thanks. We'll talk later, okay?" Ranma walked away, following Hoko down the hall.

"Jiro is in the nurse's office. That's where we have most of our meetings, because Nabiki volunteers there."

"I didn't know there were any meetings."

"Nabiki likes to control things as much as possible. She usually meets people one on one, or with me present. She doesn't want anyone to think they could vote their way around a decision of hers."

"How come she lets you in?"

"I have no self esteem. Here we are." Hoko opened the door to the nurse's office and let Ranma in before her.

* * *

Mishima Jiro sat on one of the hospital beds, ankle on his knee, foot wagging impatiently. He had long legs and the pose seemed more arrogant than it would for another man. His hair was in a military crew cut and he had a sour expression on his face. "No. Nuh uh. I didn't come here to get my other arm broken." He got off the bed. "I came here to see Nabiki, but it looks like I'm just going to have to tell my lawyers what happened."

Ranma put a hand on the boy's shoulder. A good trick, considering he was two feet taller than her.

"Get your hand off me, you freaking Amazon!"

Ranma felt the thrill of combat, and with everything else going on, it would have felt crazy good to beat Jiro down, but she kept herself from attacking. "I'm not an Amazon. I don't even like Amazons. I've got one trying to kill me. I'm here to try to settle things so just...calm down."

Jiro turned around and looked down at Ranma. "How are you going to settle things? You going to heal my arm before baseball tryouts? "

Ranma frowned. "You mean this is all about some game?"

"Right. I suppose it's all some game to you. Your dad takes you everywhere with him, like some spoiled princess."

Ranma had to snicker at that.

"You think that's funny, huh? Well, I'm stuck here, okay? Baseball's my one ticket out of here. Otherwise it's go to work at my father's company and never leave Japan."

Ranma swallowed, glancing at Hoko. She didn't like this guy, but she had to watch his feelings. She was out of her element here. She hoisted herself up onto one of the hospital beds. This gave her a little height and got her out of fight mode. To calm herself down further she made sure to talk like a girl. "First, I was laughing because you have completely the wrong idea about me and my father. You would _not_ want to trade places with me, believe me. Second, if you want to leave Japan, just go. No one is stopping you. And finally, why would a broken arm keep you from playing baseball?"

"I'm a pitcher, you dumb bitch! How'm I supposed to throw a ball if I have a broken arm?"

"Ya got two arms doncha?" Ranma snapped.

Mishima frowned. "Yeah, but…"

Mishima's tortured look was almost enough for Ranma to forget how much of an asshole he was. "Look, baseball's got its good points, but the game really over-emphasizes the whole lefty righty thing. Yeah one hand works better, but with training you can use both equally well. "

"Not in two weeks! Besides, I need both hands for catching and using a bat."

Ranma frowned. "Really? I catch things one-handed all the time. And while you can be more precise with a two-handed bat swing, I'd say you can have much more speed and range of motion with a one-handed swing."

"I…You can't…"

Ranma crossed her arms. "I can. You can. If you don't want to put forth the effort required, that's another issue. At any rate, you want my advice? I'd say that if you want your dad's respect, the last thing you should do is whine to his lawyers about what Akane did."

"Who says I want my dad's respect?"

Ranma shrugged. "You're a man, aren't you?"

Mishima frowned. "I didn't come here to be insulted."

Ranma raised her voice. "I'm sure Akane didn't expect some pansy-assed jerk to try to grope her either. The way I look at it, things are about as even as they're going to be. You want to cry to your daddy's lawyers, you go right ahead. But then, there will be some things that will need evening out." Ranma raised a hand as if she had claws. Blinking, she moved her fingers so she was making a pointing finger.

A slight smile caught the corner of Jiro's mouth. "You know, I think I might enjoy an evening out with you."

Ranma blinked. Her mouth fell open.

Jiro laughed. "You're kinda cute, you know?" He looked away. "You're right, of course. Asking my dad for help wouldn't be worth it." He walked to the door. "I thought maybe I could get something out of it if I talked to Nabiki. She probably wouldn't have caved either. Maybe I'll try training, like you said." He looked at the floor for a moment before smiling and waving good-bye. "Catch you later, Ranma-chan."

* * *

"Are you alright, Saotome-san?" Hoko asked Ranma after Jiro left. "Your face looks red."

"I'm alright." Ranma took a breath, "I just wasn't ready for him to er...change his mind like that."

Hoko nodded. Then she walked around Ranma, squinting at her. She frowned. "Strange, I would have thought you would be a lesbian."

"I'm not…! I mean…I am…I…"Ranma slumped. "I'm a bicycle."

Hoko's eyes regarded Ranma over her glasses .

"Bisexual. Gods! Why can't I get that right?"

"That is good to know. I'm sorry if I was prying. I get a little obsessive about people. I'm asexual."

"Huh?"

"It's only fair I let you know. I find the idea of sexual intimacy…disgusting. I sometimes wonder if it has something to do with my symptoms of mild autism or if I have a separate hormonal issue that I should consult a physician about. I'm not in a hurry. I figure I'll wait until college."

"Sounds like a plan," Ranma nodded warily, as she slid off the bed. "I'm not in much of hurry either, to tell you the truth."

"So you're a virgin as well. Interesting."

Ranma wasn't sure she liked how this conversation was going. Or how easily Hoko was putting things together "Yeah well, I'm only sixteen."

"True, but a surprising number of girls have their first sexual encounter before 16. I've conducted an independent survey and the number is close to twenty percent so far. If I consider girls with a comparable level of attractiveness and guile the number goes up to eighty percent. Of course this might be because girls in this group are more likely to make up stories. I'm afraid I don't have the authority to apply the proper scientific rigor to the situation."

"What situation?"

"The sex situation. A lot of it seems to be going on, but exactly how much, and to what extent? No one seems to have any answers."

"Uh…"

"Anyway, I believe you've taken care of the Mishima Jiro problem. At least for now. We should head back to class."

Ranma nodded.

In the hallway a boy ran up to Ranma and Hoko. "Ranma, your father is here. He wants to talk with you."

Everything that Ranma had managed to forget about for the last fifteen minutes came back. Ranma's fist tightened. "I can't see him right now. I'll do somethin' stupid."

"Would you like me to take care of it?" Hoko asked. "Thank you, Ichiro," she said dismissing the kid as an aside.

"What can you do?" Ranma asked

"Nabiki is good at getting people to do what she wants. I'm good at knowing who would be good for a job."

"Okay, but you know he taught me the Art. I don't think you'll find anyone who can defeat him."

"I have some ideas. Just leave it to me, little sister."

Ranma jerked upright at the familiarity. She glanced at the sash on Hoko's arm. Blue within blue. What had Nabiki started? "I'm not exactly a little sister…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm a year ahead of you. I just thought…"

"No," Ranma said, a slight smile curling her mouth, "It's okay. If you can help me out, I'd appreciate it, big sister."

Hoko smiled as well and left. Ranma was late and had to hold buckets in the hall. She spent that time and the rest of school thinking about how things had changed, and how she could deal with it. Admitting to herself that she was a girl as well as a boy was a good move. She had been going insane for a while there. But it caused some problems too. Like how to react to people like Jiro. Like how to deal with Akane and her questions. Like figuring out how she felt about Kumon.

* * *

After school and before her fight with Ryoga, Ranma talked with Akane as they were leaving school of class. "I'm sorry you weren't included in the meeting with that kid you hurt. You didn't miss much. Just told him to quit whining pretty much."

"It's okay," Akane said. "Hoko was probably right." She was looking down at the ground.

"What's wrong?"

"Everyone thinks I'm so sensitive. That I can't handle things. It isn't true."

Ranma didn't trust herself to say anything, she just watched Akane's expression.

"I know you've found a way to be a boy again. I know you and my mom…She's in your brain somehow."

Ranma remembered Tofu saying he had told Akane when she visited him, but Ranma had forgotten about that. "I was trying to find a way to tell you…"

"Were you?" Akane stepped in front of Ranma. "Because it seems to me like you've just been avoiding me. Honestly, Ranma I'm not some porcelain doll."

"Powder keg" would have been Ranma's term, but she kept that to herself. "Akane, it's just, every time I tell you something about being a boy or a girl or anything related to your mom, you freak out. That's been my whole life these last few days."

"Well maybe being part of your life is more important to me than freaking out, you ever think that?"

Ranma sighed, "Honestly? No, I didn't"

Akane whirled around, her back to Ranma as she murmured "Idiot."

"Tomboy," Ranma shot back.

"Take that back!" Akane tried to hit Ranma in the shoulder, but Ranma dodged out of the way on instinct. Akane tried a roundhouse kick, but Ranma avoided the kick and pushed Akane's leg along its path of motion, throwing Akane off balance.

While Akane's back was to Ranma, the pigtailed girl rushed in close to get Akane in a headlock. But she didn't put any pressure into it.

Akane turned around quickly inside the embrace and pushed away, still in fight mode. Then she stopped. Ranma wrapped her other arm around Akane's waist officially turning the headlock into a hug. "Thanks, Akane."

Ranma felt Akane hesitantly return the hug. "We've got some issues, don't we?" Akane asked.

"A few," Ranma agreed. They both released each other then.

"So what are you going to do about Kumon?" Akane asked.

"I don't know." Ranma said, "I can't do anything about Pops adopting the bastard." She sighed. "You know, I even sorta know where he's comin' from. It just…"

"It sucks."

Ranma nodded.

"Well, the way I see it you have two options. You can make Kumon's life difficult, challenging him all the time, insulting him, maybe even challenging him to fight for being in the family once you've trained enough to take him on, or…"

"Or what?" Ranma asked. What Akane was suggesting seemed like a pretty good course of action.

"Or you could be okay with it."

"I can't be okay with it, Akane. He's going to be their son. I can't be their son. Not completely. Not like Pop wants. They traded me in for a different model."

"They didn't trade you in! Have they kicked you out? Are they leaving you to fend for yourself?" Akane let the question hang for a moment. "They still want you there, Ranma. So whatever it is, it isn't a trade."

Ranma shook her head, "Pops raised me to be a man among men…"

"You're a girl right now Ranma. If you're so worried about being a man, why haven't you changed form?"

"I can't…I'm both, Akane. I can't let either side of me go. I thought I was okay with that, but for Kumon to just take my place…"

"Honestly, Ranma! You don't seem to know how lucky you have it. You've got both your parents, you can be whatever sex you want pretty much whenever you want, and you're amazing at just about everything you do. You know some of us have to work for what we have. Some of us didn't go on training trips with our fathers to foreign countries."

"You make it sound like a vacation or something. Believe me, Akane, It wasn't that great."

"You _left_ your _mother_!" Akane's eyes went wide as she realized what she said. "I mean…" She looked down. "I know that isn't true. But it feels true. I look at what you have and part of me thinks you don't deserve it. Maybe it wasn't your idea at first, but…ten years and you didn't miss her? You didn't wonder how she was doing? What she would say to you, whether she would be proud of you or ashamed? I want to let it go, but there's this small, ugly part of me that won't shut up. It keeps saying you abandoned your mother. " Akane looked up , "And you stole mine."

"Akane, I…"

"Don't bother. I guess you were right not to talk to me." Akane started to walk away.

There was a rising feeling from within and Ranma heard Kirika: _Let me talk to her._

"Uh, Akane? Your mom wants to talk to you."

Akane turned back around. "Mom? Now?"

Ranma nodded.

_Hold steady, Ranma, this will just be a little while._

"Okay," Ranma replied, and willed herself to lose control.

* * *

Immediately everything shifted into the weird, crepuscular spirit vision. Ranma saw lights dancing around like candle flames, the souls of people walking around, she realized. But they were indistinct and dim for the most part. Akane's light was bright and more steady, but even hers kept changing. Looking at her light was like trying to remember the meaning of a kanji. The meaning kept morphing from daughter, to friend, to girl, to woman, to martial artist, to failure…Ranma looked away. There were other brighter constant lights too. She recognized Nabiki and Pops easily. There was a dimmer, highly flickering light with them, that Ranma couldn't make out. Kasumi was clear, so was Soun. Her mother and Kumon were harder to place. And then there were the brighter lights. The demons, Kirika had said. And there was Jusenkyo. Looking at it, Ranma could automatically tell what it was. She could see eminences shooting out of it in various directions toward the souls connected to it. Toward her own soul.

_You have a name now, Ranma Megumi Saotome. You do not need that body. Let Kirika Ashitaka Tendo_ _have it. Join us. Help us grow…_

Ranma felt herself pulled toward Jusenkyo. She grabbed onto Kirika, but she had nothing to grab with. She had no body. She used to have a body, but now that was Kirika's.

_Join us, and you can have whatever body you like. _

No! Ranma didn't want to join Jusenkyo. Didn't want to become some trapped spirit enticing travelers to curse themselves. But she had to find a body! Other lights were getting closer.

_Ranma Megumi Saotome doesn't want to join Jusenkyo! He She is not protected. We can steal from her him!_

Ranma had to find a body. Any body. The dark-haired girl was closest. She didn't have a name. He she could hide there for awhile…

* * *

Ranma blinked. She was hugging somebody.

She was hugging herself.

"Akane? Honey?" The red head released her.

Ranma looked down. She pulled some black hair in front of her eyes. "What the…"

"Oh no. Oh, Akane, I'm sorry. I took too long! Ranma, release her!"

"I…I don't know how." It was Akane's voice. How was this happening?

"You are in Akane's body. It does not belong to you. Reject it."

A rush of anger filled her. Anger that was not her own. Or was it?

"Don't take anything from her! You are Ranma Megumi Saotome. Reject everything that isn't you!"

"But the spirits…"

"They are farther away than they seem. Leave that body."

Ranma closed Akane's eyes. She was Ranma Megumi Saotome. She would not be frightened of getting her soul ripped apart by evil spirits. She gritted Akane's teeth. Her teeth felt different. Her tongue too. She remembered going to the dentist…the cotton balls… No. Those were Akane's memories. It was Akane's mouth. Ranma relaxed the grip she had been applying to Akane's body. Let Akane's spirit regain control.

* * *

Once again there were the lights. Ranma saw Kirika's light rise out of the redheaded girl's body. Ranma dove in.

* * *

Ranma opened her eyes. She looked at her hands. Her hands. She was herself again.

Akane was giving her a scared, angry look.

Ranma realized what she did. Without even meaning to, after only a few minutes as an untethered spirit. "Akane, we have to save your mom."

Akane nodded mutely.

Ranma glanced at the clock tower. She had maybe twenty minutes before her match with Kataro. "I wish we could cancel our duels."

"You were inside my head."

Ranma swallowed.

"You possessed me."

"I couldn't help it. It was the first time outside of my body. It's like being naked in a snowstorm. You do anything to get inside."

"Could she possess me? My mom I mean?"

_No!_

"Uh, I don't think she wants to."

"Why not? I wouldn't mind. At least for a little while."

_Akane doesn't have a Name. You'd be safe._ Ranma directed toward Kirika.

_Akane wouldn't be safe_. Kirika directed back. _I won't endanger my daughter like that._

"What about me?" Ranma snapped, forgetting to keep herself from speaking out loud.

_I didn't realize what I was doing to you. I guided you through the naming ceremony so that I wouldn't be able to possess you without your permission anymore, but that was what was sustaining me. I have said good bye. Just let me fade as I must._

Pretty words, but based on what Ranma just experienced, by "fade" Kirika meant "be torn apart by hungry spirits."

"What does she say?" Akane apparently understood Ranma had been talking to Kirika.

"She doesn't want to change who you are, like she changed me."

"You don't seem too bad. How did she change you?"

Ranma swallowed. _She is your daughter. I'm not. You guided me through a lot more than just the Naming ceremony. You could do the same for her. _

Ranma could feel Kirika consider the idea further. _If I do this, you have to promise to watch her. Make sure I don't slip, that she doesn't give up too much of herself for me. _

"I promise," Ranma said, and she felt a strange echo. For an instant she could see the spirit world superimposed on the real world. She had a name now, she realized. It meant she was accountable. "Akane…She's going to go to you. Be ready. Try not to let her take anything from you."

Akane nodded, and Ranma felt Kirika leave. Akane closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were bright blue.

"Everything okay?" Ranma asked.

Akane blinked. "Why is everything so bright all of a sudden? I can feel her… Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"She loves us. I felt that just now. She loves both of us, me and you, it's almost like…"

Ranma felt a sudden urge to hug Akane as a sister. She even took a step forward. But she stopped herself. Kirika wasn't her mother. Even if it felt a little like she was. Ranma had her own family. Even if it did seem like they didn't need or want her. She couldn't just change families because she felt like it.

They had hugged twice already, but now it would mean something different. So instead of a hug, Ranma grabbed Akane's hand and gave it a light squeeze. It was a gesture she probably couldn't have pulled off as a guy, but Ranma tried not to think about that. Akane was her best friend. Of course her mother would love them both. It was something precious they shared, and it didn't have to mean anything more than that.

Looking at the clock tower, Ranma realized they had spent more time than they should have on the road. "We've got to get ready for our challenges. Are you okay, Akane? She's not distracting you too much?"

Akane shook her head. "If anything I feel a little more calm."

This alarmed Ranma a little.

"Relax, Ranma. I'm still me. It's just…It's nice knowing she's there."

Ranma nodded slowly, trying to ignore the jarring sense of emptiness she was feeling now that Kirika wasn't with her. "I'll try to get done with Ryoga quickly so I can catch your fight."

"I'll try to stall a little bit." Akane smiled.

Ranma smiled back. "You know what?"

"What?"

"Blue eyes suit you." Ranma released Akane's hand and walked away.

"Huh? Blue eyes...?" she heard Akane say behind her.

* * *

The fight with Ashitaka was over pretty quickly. Afterward Kuno came down from the roof, using ki in his legs just like Ranma had taught him that one time after kicking him off the roof. "Answer me, my errant sunbeam, is what I've just heard true? Is your father touched with madness? Are you besieged by charlatans?"

Ranma blinked. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Kuno grabbed Ranma's hand in both of his. "Then we are the same! Surely the fates have brought us together. You must date with me!"

"Okay."

"Yea though thy voice declines, thy heart…wait a minute, what did you say?"

Ranma swallowed. Her heart thumped. What was she thinking? She should take it back, say she miss-spoke or something. But when she thought of spending a night with Kuno, having him tell her how great she was, maybe getting to know something about him and why he was such a freak, it didn't seem all that bad. "I said…okay. I'll go on a date with you." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Kuno heard her.

"Really? I…You will be free after Akane's fight?"

"No, me and Akane both have work."

"Tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty free tomorrow."

"Then I will call on you at…six?"

"Uh, sure."

"It will be a Tuesday night. It is more customary for a date to be on a Friday. Still, perhaps this is for the best, as the customary times oft make for crowded venues."

Ranma just nodded, still not quite believing she was actually going through with this.

"My heart is overflowing with joy, my goddess! Still I must hurry, lest I miss Akane's battle! "

"I don't know if I'll be able to make it. Let me know if I miss anything."

Kuno placed a hand over his heart. "I will commit every moment to memory for the retelling." With that, Kuno gave a bow and left.

Ranma supposed most girls would be irritated that Kuno would watch another girl's fight instead of their own, but then Ranma wasn't most girls. She was feeling good about her decision for a few moments. At least until Ryoga showed up and completely ruined her mood.

~~~~~?~~~~~

Your expression, has changed, my love. As you know I hang on your every twitch. Please explain this new development.

Yes, of course. I was giving a request, not an order.

You say there is a new connection, tenuous but sure? Interesting. When Ranma possessed Akane, some of her curse must have transferred.

Oh, surely it is not surprising that the servant of the foremost expert on Jusenkyo might know a few tidbits as well. Maybe you could explain more.

Ah yes! Now that Ranma is named, she is claiming the curse as part of herself, swallowing Jusenkyo's energy like a drunkard swallows wine, just as you once did. The demon will struggle to find any way of the host that has become a parasite.

Of course she is nowhere near your equal. I was just noting the similarity. This new connection, does it mean Akane is now cursed?

Potentially cursed. I see. I imagine it's probably like drinking Jusenkyo water. Without a trigger, something that momentarily shocks the person into a semi-conscious state, the Jusenkyo demon can't completely grab hold. But this means that Kirika's daughter is in a lot of trouble! If someone startles her, or she sneezes, or if she even day dreams, that could end up being the trigger for the curse.

But there's more, isn't there? I can see that glint in your eye! Oh, wait… there is nothing for Akane to turn into…that means…

This is good, my savior. I haven't had a chance to catch up with the guide in a long time.

~~~~~Akane~~~~~

She had to focus. She couldn't be worried about Ranma, or about her mother floating somewhere in her brain, or about Kuno shouting praises at her from the side lines. She was in the school gym, where most of the fights took place since Nabiki had worked out a deal with the assistant principal. She was missing Ranma's fight with Ryoga, but she had to concentrate on the fight she was in.

The opponent in front of her wasn't like the others she had fought. For one thing, she was a girl. Her hair was short, but her features were far too feminine for there to be any mistake there. For another, she actually had a great deal of skill and used all sorts of weaponry that Akane didn't understand. Currently Akane was trying to figure out what the ribbon the girl was twirling could possibly be used for. She had done some research on Rhythmic gymnastics, but the books in the library hadn't said anything about pins with spikes in them, or medicine balls with triggered blades. Akane had just barely been able to avoid those, but the experience left her shaken.

Akane concentrated on the girl's movements, and her eyes. Ranma often said that the eyes were important. This girl's eyes looked determined, worried, desperate, hopeful. Her name was Okizaki Kaori, the head of the Furinkan Rhythmic Gymnastics team. She was from a fairly poor family. Lived with her father. Her mother had died or left or something like that. Akane hadn't paid enough attention. She had thought the girl was a lesbian. She figured she would teach her a lesson just like the boys, but the girl hadn't confessed her love or anything like that. She had barely spoken since the fight started. She just attacked.

Was she angry? No. If anything Kaori looked afraid of something. Each of her attacks was potentially devastating, but also oddly tentative. "Why did you challenge me?" Akane asked finally, deciding that it would be better to know than to guess.

In response, the girl shot her ribbon toward Akane. It was as if it were lightning headed straight for her. Akane used the trick Ranma had told her about jumping, using her tie to the Earth as a springboard. The ribbon missed, hitting the wooden post behind where Akane had stood. As Akane landed, the post sprung forward from the tension in the ropes of the ring. The ribbon had sliced through the post like a sword through bamboo. Akane had jumped to the left of the ribbon, but now the ropes were going to interfere with her landing. There wasn't any time for Akane to correct her fall.

She fell on the ropes and fell onto her back. She scrambled to get up, but her ankles were still caught on the top rope and she hadn't found the right leverage yet.

She saw Kaori approach with two pins, having apparently discarded her ribbon. She used the pins to lift her ankles up higher off of the rope. "You can't beat her," Kaori's voice was filled with disappointment.

Akane realized Kaori was going to try to force her to backward somersault off the stage. Making a platform with her arms, Akane lifted her feet off of Kaori pins into a shoulder stand. Then she scrambled up to her feet. But when she rose Kaori started swinging at her with the pins. Only instead of two pins, it seemed like there were ten. Akane tried to dodge all of them nevertheless, and she did better than she would have thought. In the end, though, it was too much. One of the pins connected with Akane's chin and she staggered backward, off the ring.

It hadn't hurt that much. Just a temporary shock to her system, but suddenly Akane felt like she was outside of her body. She saw herself on the ground, Kaori looking at her from the ring. She saw Kuno yelling "Foul!" She saw Ranma watching from the doorway. He was a man, but Akane could still tell it was her him. Something about the light that was glowing inside him her. Everything was turning gray. There were lights everywhere now. Something was pulling her towards something. A huge light, like a sun…was she dying? Was this the light everyone talked about?

_Yes,_ the light told her. The words vibrating through her entire being, _I am God. Come to me._

"No! I'm not ready! I don't care if it's heaven or nirvana or what, I'm not ready!"

_You don't have a choice, little girl. You're ours now._

Akane was pretty sure God wouldn't talk like that. She tried to resist, but she couldn't grab onto anything. She couldn't see anything anymore except the infinite gray and all the lights around her, burning. Was this Hell then? But she hadn't done anything wrong. Oddly she found the pull toward the light lesson a little.

_You judged Ranma for being a boy, judged him her for being a girl. You've accused many people of being perverted, of being lesbians and male homosexuals, as if that made them unworthy of your compassion._

"I know! I'm sorry about that! I'm trying to be better about that, but it's hard!"

_We could make it easier for you._ There was a jerk toward the light at this.

"What do you mean?"

_Let us have your judgment. We will let you go if you give us that._

Akane felt herself drifting closer to the light. She felt like she had to make a decisions soon or it would be too late, but what the light was saying sounded like a trick.

"No," she said finally. "I need to be able to judge." Akane felt the light tug again, but this time she didn't move any closer.

_Surely there is some part of yourself you would like to be rid of?_

"I don't know. I've got these hang ups about…you know…sex things. None of it seems right to me. And I know that it doesn't make things wrong, but part of me can't stop thinking in terms of black and white."

_That will do. _

"No wait! I didn't mean…"

But it was too late. Akane felt something tear away from her and for a moment it seemed like she was both rising and falling. Then she was flying faster, faster into the light. "I thought you said you'd let me go, you bastard!" She yelled.

_We said we would take you._

"You said I would let you go if I gave you some part of myself. "

_Yes. The part of you unable to see past the black and white of an issue. The part of you unwilling to face your own sexuality._

"There's nothing to face about my sexuality, you fucking pervert!" Akane was bathed in the light now, moving closer to the center.

_You're absolutely right, Akane. We're here to help. The world is full of perverts, Akane. Help us get rid of them. Help us kill them all._

If Akane had eyes, she would have blinked. Why hadn't she thought of that idea before? Why should any pervert be allowed to live? The world would be a better place without them.

_We'll have you start off small._ _Three foot pool, no pole. Then maybe we can expand, depending on revenue. _

"Who are you?" Akane asked even as the knowledge was becoming part of her, even as she was becoming part of the demon who had consumed her.

_We are Jusenkyo. We will rise._

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

Ranma slapped Akane's cheeks lightly. "Come on, Akane, wake up. Your mother won't be able to resist for much longer."

_Forsworn_

Ranma felt the word like a chill on his back. Really, he was more concerned with Akane than himself, but hearing spirits talk to you is always a little distracting.

Akane's eyes fluttered open. "Ranma?" she asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know it was me?"

"I...You…Did I die?"

"No. Just got knocked out from what I could tell."

"That pretender used foul trickery on you, I'm sure of it, fair one," Kuno asserted. Then he turned to Ranma. "How are you so familiar with this beauteous creature?"

"I'm Ranma's ah brother. I've been living with the Tendos for a while. My name is actually Ranma and my sister's name is Megumi, but that's a long story. "

It was also a completely made up story, but strangely the complexity of the lie made it easier to say. Megumi's fake origin was almost more interesting than her real one.

"Know this. I stay my blade only out of respect for your sister, who lights the world with her beauty. I do not like your manhandling of the fair Akane, however, and should you attempt further seductions in my presence you will meet my wrath."

"She didn't cheat." Akane said. "She won fair and square."

Ranma helped Akane to her feet. "What happened. While you were out, I mean?"

Akane gave him a haunted look with her newly blue eyes. Then she glanced at Kuno and some of the other onlookers and smiled. "Just finally had some sense knocked into me I guess. Where's Kaori? I want to congratulate her."

"She left as soon as the match was over." Ranma said.

"Really? I would have thought she would challenge you next. I mean Megumi."

Ranma shrugged. "You okay? You seem different somehow."

Akane sighed. "I don't know, Ranma. I feel strange too. I should probably go see Dr. Tofu." Akane suddenly burst out in laughter.

"What's funny?"

"I can't believe I thought I had a crush on him!"

"Didn't you?"

Akane closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'll tell you later maybe. It's complicated. I still don't really understand it."

"You think you're okay to go to work?"

"Sure, but I don't think I'll go."

"Huh?"

Akane took a breath. "I don't like working at the restaurant, Ranma. I feel stupid every time I work there. People hit on me. It's not my thing. The only reason I've stayed working there for so long is because it's fun hanging out with y-Megumi, and lately she hasn't been much fun either."

"Hey I'm going to go find Megumi, okay? Then you can talk to her about all this okay? " Ranma turned to Kuno, "Don't you have some place to be?"

"Until you depart, I will remain vigilant."

"Kuno, if _you_ don't depart, I am going to de-part you" Akane smiled maliciously.

"But I do not trust this man's intentions!"

"I trust them more than I trust yours. I don't even like you, Kuno, so please do us all a favor and just leave."

"Is this a test of my love?"

"No, Kuno. It's not a test. It's reality. It will never happen between you and me. You aren't my type. I'm not sure what my type is, but it isn't you."

Kuno frowned. "I think…my goddess might be angry with me. I will entreat her again tomorrow when her mood may be more favorable."

"I'm not your goddess, Kuno. I'm not your anything. I am in charge of who I want to spend time with, not you or anyone else."

"So many foul words from such a pretty mouth! I can bear it no longer! I must away. If I hear that Tendo Akane has been harmed in any way by you , miscreant, I will slice you into ribbons." Kuno ran off.

"Gods, what a creep."

Ranma stayed silent.

"What? Look, it's not good for him or me for him to keep going on like he is. It's sick and pathetic."

_Forsworn_

"I think maybe we should go see Dr. Tofu as soon as possible."

"Okay, but I don't see why. How am I acting any differently than before?"

"You seem more sure of yourself. Maybe it's a good thing, but it seems a little scary to me."

Akane nodded somberly. "I'm different, aren't I? We have to figure out what that light did to me."

"Light?"

"I don't know. There was this big light that talked to me. Said it was going to take something from me."

_Forsworn! FORSWARN!_

"Aargh!" Ranma put hands to his ears, but he couldn't get the sound of the spirit screams out of his mind. "Akane, we are going to Tofu's _now._" Ranma grabbed Akane's arm and dragged her out of the gym.

"Won't you be late for work?" Akane asked.

Ranma kept going. He couldn't decide whether or not the question was stupid or reasonable. Akane couldn't hear the screams he heard after all. In the end he decided not to answer.

Akane tore her arm away from his grasp. "Stop it, Ranma. I'm going with you to Tofu's, but I'm not going to have you dragging me there like some child's toy."

"Fine, but we have to hurry."

"Why?"

"_Because the voices in my head are telling me to, okay?" _

Akane raised her hands in a "give up" gesture. "Let's go then. " She ran ahead of Ranma out of the door.

Ranma had the odd thought that she looked kind of cute when she was running, before the screams picked up again, moving him forward.

~~~~~Akane~~~~~

The waiting room was very strange. The closest thing to it Akane had experienced was a centrifuge ride that was at a festival she went to once. The room was circular with large, tall-backed chairs all around the edge. In the center of the room , hanging from the ceiling was a ring of displays, one for each seat. Her display showed a small pond, a puddle really. There were several empty chairs in the room, but most of them were filled with people. Some were as solid as she was, while others were almost transparent.

"How's it going?" the person to the right of her asked. He happened to be one of the more transparent ones.

"What is this place?" Akane demanded.

"This is the waiting room. It's where we watch over our ponds and try to get people to fall in. "

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Well, it's really the only way to get out. I mean, there's the break room and that can be fun, depending on what you're into, but it doesn't come close to real life."

"Who are you?"

"Most folks here call me Mao. I'm in control of the Maonichuan, spring of drowned cat. I usually hang out in the break room myself, but Jusenkyo is revving up for something, taking out more soul energy than usual. Everyone is fading faster now, and since I was already half gone when the push started, if I don't get the next customer to land in my spring, I might cease to exist and some upstart will get my spot."

"That's ridiculous. If you were the spirit of a cat spring, you'd be a cat."

"How many cats do you know with the patience for this kind of thing? No, maybe the spirit was a cat at one time, but that hasn't been true for at least several centuries. Basically the way it works is if you die with a curse, you either get your soul eaten or you become the spirit of that curse. Actually you get your soul eaten either way, but it's slower the second way. Besides there's always the chance you can take over your host and escape. Of course if that happens then when your host dies, you get your soul eaten. Kind of a lose, lose, lose situation. Very tragic story, as we like to say around here."

"When do I get to kill perverts?" Akane asked.

"Kill…perverts? Huh. You must be one of those partial souls they bring in from time to time. Jusenkyo uses you guys as soldiers. Making sure the springs don't come to harm, not letting victims get control of their curses, that sort of thing. You'll probably get fast-tracked out of here."

"I'm not a partial soul. I'm the real me!"

Mao laughed. "That's what all the partial souls say. Here's the test: can you think of anything or anyone that you care about?"

"Sure I can! I…" But Akane found she didn't have the knack any more. When she thought of her family she could only think of all the times they failed her or tried to manipulate her. Ranma had betrayed her just like all her other "friends" in school by being a pervert. Ranma had ruined martial arts for her too, so she didn't care about that any more either. "I care about killing perverts," she said.

"That's not a thing or a person. That's an act, and I don't think it's something you actually have much experience in. As for me, I was cursed to be a cat back when hot water wasn't as easy to come by as it is now. There was this lady who took me in. She thought I was just a normal cat and I guess I might as well have been. " Mao seemed to grow a little more solid, even as his smirking expression slackened into melancholy. "I wasn't able to save her from that fire."

"Well, I don't care what you say. I'm me. I'm complete."

"You know some people only ever have partial souls. They die never knowing love of any kind. Maybe you were one of those. At any rate, if I were you, I'd find something, anything to focus on. To care about. That will give you strength."

Akane didn't respond right away. Instead she watched the display of her pond as she thought of what her thing might be. "There was this festival I went to as a little girl," she said after several minutes. "There was this tall device with a bell on the top they used to measure people's strength. And there was this large, heavy, wooden mallet…"

~~~~~End of Ch.15~~~~~

~~~~~Author's note~~~~~

7/7/12: Yep, still around. Still writing fanfiction. Sorry for the long wait this time, but I do this purely for fun now, and I have many other projects keeping me busy. I still plan on adding more chapters to this and to Thyself Known. I think Oyu has almost caught up with TK as far as chapter numbers, so I might switch over soon. I hope to get another chapter out before the world ends in December.

As always, thank you for your interest and your comments. They are definitely appreciated.

I'm a bit worried I'm going off the rails here this chapter, but what I have planned should hopefully get me closer to an end game on the overall arc. Also, one or two people mentioned that they thought there wasn't enough Akane. Now there's twice as much, so there:-)

In the universe this fanfiction is based on, you have spirits and you have demons, and you have curses. The way I figure it, a curse is an organized form of spiritual attack, and that if a bunch of spirits got together, they could do a much better job at cursing folk than otherwise. I figure this organization of spirits might be a demon. I suppose it's a bit like the hollows in Bleach. Only instead of getting destroyed right away, I have the souls slowly get their essence drained by working for an unfeeling corporation.

Well that's fine but how did Akane get attacked? The way I see it, getting cursed is like a spammer getting your email address. If you inadvertently give them your friend's address (aka name) by, say, jumping into their body in order to escape a band of hungry spirits…then you've created a problem for your friend.

You might be wondering whether Ranma's curse is affected by this. Well no, not really. Just because a spammer has a new address doesn't mean they'll stop using the old one. I'll admit the analogy breaks down at some point, but that's the basic idea. I'll be able to explain things in more detail in the next chapter. Assuming the world doesn't end before then.

Thanks for reading!


	16. Threads

Oyu no Ranma

A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Zorknot

Chapter 16: Threads

In this chapter, Akane manages to cook something edible, Ryoga becomes a witch's familiar, and Ranma almost quits his her job…again.

Disclaimer: "Punch out!" Aradek barked the order to his navigation coordinator, Freelix and the short, dark skinned man pushed the big green button that brought the Wounded Whale out of hyperspace. What the crew of the Wounded Whale saw through the viewscreen once they arrived was gut wrenching. Partek station, once a bustling metropolis of interstellar travelers and savvy merchants, now seemed to be nothing more than a rotating mass of incoherent debris. "Sir," Karda, the communications officer addressed Aradek, "We're receiving a message." "Well?" Aradek asked impatiently "What does it say?" Karda swallowed and frowned, her smooth forehead crinkling in consternation. She made a few hand motions and the message started playing out of the ship's speakers. Aradek's heart sank when he heard it. He had suspected all along, but to have it confirmed was just too much. "Many of these characters and some situations are the property of Takahashi Rumiko and affiliated companies," the toneless voice said through the intercom "If you like this story please consider purchasing something from the original creators"

~~~~~Chapter 16: Threads~~~~~

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

As a man who got lost a lot, Ryoga was rather familiar with the unfamiliar. But being asked by a girl with an eyepatch to _be_ a familiar, wasn't just _un_familiar, it was downright bizarre. "Bwee?" he asked, eloquently.

"He has a lot of will," the old lady noted.

"Really?" Nabiki asked, giving Ryoga another quick look. "Isn't that bad?"

The panda in the doorway started snoring. _He must be a Jusenkyo curse victim too_, Ryoga supposed.

The old lady drew closer. She shook her head. "You're safe." Ryoga squirmed and tried to get out of Nabiki's grip, but she held firm.

Nabiki nodded slowly, taking Ryoga inside and leaving the door open for the old lady until she turned around three times and backed into the house. Closing the door, Nabiki said, "Alright, you old fox. What aren't you telling me?"

The old lady smiled widely, showing all of the places where there should have been teeth. "It will cost you, dearie."

It was Nabiki's turn to smile. "All the best things do. What do you want, Grandmother Shiratori?"

Shiratori turned around. "My niece is visiting this weekend."

"Asuza?"

Shiratori nodded.

"So you want me to baby sit, is that it?"

Shiratori faced Nabiki again. "Don't be absurd, child, she's nearly as old as you are."

"So you're saying I should accept her tendency to rob people and name the things she steals as a lifestyle choice and leave it at that?" Nabiki squeezed Ryoga under her arm so she could put her other hand on her hip.

"I'm asking you to be a guiding influence. She's an only child, and she could use a strong female presence to…"

"How is this not babysitting again?"

Shiratori threw up her hands. "Fine. Yes, I want you to babysit for me. Will you do it?"

Nabiki held up a finger with her free hand, "Only in exchange for the information you're hiding from me about this ritual."

"I agree. You have my word." Strangely, Shiratori's words seemed to echo slightly when she said this. The small, old lady stepped closer. Her eyes were almost level with Ryoga's. "Do you want your mother to be free again? Do you want to be able to embrace her and her alone once more?"

"Yes, you know I do," Nabiki said with impatience and steely resolve.

Shiratori looked up at Nabiki. "Then you must perform the ritual with him, even though he is a Jusenkyo-cursed human."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Then Nabiki said, "Ew, " and dropped Ryoga.

"Why did you do that?" Shiratori asked.

"He's naked!"

Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Ryoga darted away to try to find a way out of the house, but he encountered some difficulty. What kind of house has five kitchens anyway?

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

There were three people in the waiting room at Tofu's clinic. An elderly man, a young mother, and her son. The son was maybe ten years old and was squirming around in his chair, not wanting to play with the baby toys in the corner, and not being at all interested in the magazines either.

"Maybe we should just go in," Ranma suggested, empathizing with the kid. He and Akane had only been sitting for five minutes, but it felt like five hours.

"I don't think this is that urgent, Ranma. Besides it would be rude."

Ranma studied Akane's face trying to decide if that was something she would normally say or not. "Can you tell me what happened again?"

"Not really. There was this giant ball of light that said it was Jusenkyo. It used the old way of saying 'we' to reference itself. It grabbed hold of me somehow, of my soul, and it was pulling me toward it. Then it accused me of being overly judgmental, and I said I was working on that. It said it could help, and I said I didn't want its help. Then it tore something away from me anyway."

Ranma grimaced. "Uh… Akane? Are you sure that's exactly how it happened?" Ranma didn't have much experience with demons and spirits, but the last day or so had been enough to tell him that spirits take contracts very seriously. If Akane didn't want to make a pact, Jusenkyo shouldn't have been able to do anything.

"Yes." Akane looked away. "Basically. I said that if I was going to get rid of something I would get rid of the part of me that could only see things in black and white and was hung up on sexuality. Apparently that was enough."

"So you don't have any sexual hang ups any more?" Ranma asked.

"I'm not going to start flirting with every guy I see if that's what you're asking. It's just…it seems clearer what I feel. Like with Kuno earlier. Usually I push him away, but I halfway think 'Hey, he's attractive. He's strong. Maybe I shouldn't push him away.' But now I know that I'm not attracted to him at all."

"Isn't that seeing things as black and white, though?"

"Not exactly. I don't think Kuno is evil or anything. I just think he's pathetic. I'm usually so angry at him…but now he just disgusts me."

Ranma noticed the kid was staring at them. How much did he understand? How much did the mother and the old man pretend not to hear? The older people were being very Japanese, giving Akane and Ranma their privacy by not acknowledging them, but the kid was too young to be polite. Ranma smiled at him. Then Ranma remembered he was a guy. Then he frowned, wondering why that should matter. "It must be nice," he said to Akane.

"Hmm?"

"Not having any hang-ups about…things." Ranma was too aware of the kid now to say "sex."

"It's like something has cut through all the webbing. I just know what I want now. Not just about sex, but about a lot of things I wouldn't have thought were related."

"Like what?"

"Like you. " Akane's face was pensive, her head tilted to one side. "We're still friends, I think, but we're a little scared of each other too. I think it's because we both know we could be more than friends."

Ranma swallowed and found his hands suddenly very interesting.

"Don't worry, Ranma. I'm okay with how things are…mostly. I'm just saying the potential is there. Or at least it was."

"Was?"

"I remember last night I cried in bed, thinking about you. I was agonizing over how we seemed to be drifting apart, wondering whether the way I cared about you was just as a friend et cetera," Akane talked almost as if she were bored. "But now that seems like something someone else would do. Now I just realize that I enjoy your company and I find you attractive. I think it's safe to say you're my best friend, but that was true of most of my good friends before."

"You mean like…Yuki and Sayuri?"

"Yes," Akane said evenly.

"So, you're a lesbian then?"

Akane narrowed her eyes as if seeing something far off. "Not exactly. It's complicated. But I'm definitely not a normal girl. And before you ask, I see you as a girl and honestly, you being a guy right now makes me a little uncomfortable."

For some reason, Akane talking like this was making Ranma uncomfortable too, in a different and decidedly masculine way. _Stop it!_ He admonished himself, _It doesn't even make sense to do that now!_ He hated not being in control he…

Ranma turned away. He looked at the door to Tofu's office. "You don't want to get the rest of your soul back, do you? That's why you've been dragging your heels all this time."

"I feel sane, Ranma. I didn't even know how insane I felt until now. I might be missing something. in fact, I know I am, but I just want some time to appreciate this."

Ranma nodded. "You know sometimes, when I'm training, and I go all out, when I execute a perfect form, all my doubts and worries just fall away, and it's like I'm seeing the universe the way it really is."

"I've never been able to feel that way, Ranma. Never. The most I'm able to accomplish is to forget for a little while what's bothering me. "

Tofu slid open the door to his office, letting an elderly lady out. Ranma saw Tofu frown for a fraction of a second upon seeing Ranma, and then his usual good-natured smile returned. "Is this something urgent, Ranma? I do have other patients, you know."

Ranma regarded Akane. "It's up to you."

Akane returned Ranma's gaze, and then looked down. "I need to tell Tofu, but I can wait until he sees his other patients." Akane gave a deferential nod to Tofu as she said this. "I have some thinking to do, Ranma. You should go to work."

"Work is going to be murder without you," Ranma grimaced looking at the clock, "But, I guess someone's got to man the fort."

"You mean woman the fort, don't you?" Akane hinted.

"Oh. Right." Ranma turned , "Tofu? Could I borrow some hot water. I've got to go to work."

"Certainly. Come right in."

Ranma did so and got his water quietly while Tofu began with the elderly man.

"Thanks for the water, doc," Ranma called out once she was herself again. " See you later!" She stopped outside of the office and shuddered. _Once she was herself__…_

"What's wrong, Ranma?" Akane asked, "Is he doing something gross in there?"

"No, I just…" Ranma swallowed. "I can't get into it now. I've…uh…I've got to go."

"Ranma?" Akane spoke, stopping Ranma in the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Akane's expression held no desperation. It wasn't some confession of romantic interest. It had the air of a stated fact.

Ranma smiled. "Yeah, Akane, I love you too." Damned if it wasn't true too.

Ranma walked through the waiting room, past the girl dressed in boy's clothes sitting next to her mother. Looking out at the rain, Ranma took out two 100 yen notes and put them on the umbrella stand. Then she took one of the umbrellas and opened it up as she went outside. She would have to be careful not to get splashed, but she should be able to make it.

She paused. Was there something weird about the waiting room? That little girl…She shook her head. "It's probably nothing." She was still feeling good from telling Akane she loved her. It was the same precious feeling she had been experiencing more and more recently. That feeling of being filled by something beautiful. Of being part of something instead of just a visitor. If only she could be sure she wasn't going to screw everything up.

Ranma stepped gingerly around a puddle as she rushed through the rain under the umbrella. She almost wished she had Tasuke's curse back again. She wondered idly of what became of the vial the curse came in. Was it still in that bathroom? Ranma's pace slowed as she frowned. There was something she was missing. What was it? Shrugging, Ranma decided she would figure it out later when she wasn't in a rush.

What with the restaurant being short-staffed, Ranma found she was in a rush the rest of the night.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Nabiki advanced on Ryoga, looming over him, a menacing expression on her face. There was a tinge of humor to the expression as well though. Ryoga found an opening and darted through past Nabiki.

"Gods, he's like a missile going off or something!"

Ryoga had gone through all the rooms in the house and they all seemed to be the same kitchen. At this point he was just avoiding Nabiki so he could try to think of some way to escape.

Shiratori had long since given up trying to catch him. She was sitting on a stool with her arms folded. "He has the same amount of energy he has as a human, but in the curse what was strength becomes speed."

"Well, that's nice for him. How am I supposed to catch him?"

Shiratori shrugged. "He's your familiar."

"If he was already my familiar, I wouldn't have to catch him for this stupid ceremony!"

Shiratori shrugged again, this time so severely that Ryoga could hear her bones popping. "Well, this isn't always true, but it's said that often the form of a witch's familiar is something that the witch has an affinity for, something that she is able to influence more than other creatures."

"I don't have much experience with pigs. Unless you count some of the men I've dated." Nabiki blinked slowly. Then she moved to the sink and started to fill a tea kettle with water.

Ryoga moved cautiously closer.

"Oh, you want to be human again?" Nabiki cooed. "Well, guess what? I can do that for you." She put the kettle on a burner and turned it on. She crouched down in front of Ryoga, pulling back a strand of hair, still wet from the rain. "I just want you to do something for me."

Ryoga wondered if Nabiki knew he could see her bra under her shirt.

Nabiki got on her knees and elbows, her breasts seemed to push into Ryoga's face.

He wondered if he should say something. "Bw- Bwee? "

"You see my mother, whom I love dearly, has been trapped in some kind of limbo for more than a decade and the only way I can save her is by becoming a witch and binding myself to a familiar. Now all I need is a very tiny amount of your blood and for you to hold my hand while I perform some silly ritual. It's really not so much to ask, is it? I mean," Nabiki's eyes welled up with tears. "This is my mom! I miss her so much!"

Ryoga nodded. "Bwee!" he said in a tone that he hoped came across as comforting. He hated it when girls cried.

"So you'll help me?"

Ryoga nodded again.

"You're so sweet!" Nabiki kissed him on the snout.

As Ryoga felt heat in his cheeks, she stood up and checked the heat of the kettle.

"Are you okay, dear?" Shiratori asked

Nabiki startled slightly, then she smiled, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "I'm fine, Grandmother. I was just…"

"You've been through a lot. It's okay for you to slip."

Nabiki frowned. "I'm not sure I know what you mean, Grandmother." Sensing that the water inside was warm enough, Nabiki took the kettle to Ryoga, and poured it on him.

Ryoga rose up to his human height in more ways than one. Nabiki's eyes did not shy away, she smirked as she took in the sight and then eyes reached Ryoga's face. "Ryoga!" She put her hand on her hip "How nice to see you again," she drawled.

Ryoga covered himself. He should have known Nabiki was lying about her mother. "You were just pretending earlier, weren't you?"

"Ryoga-baby, I promise you, it was as good for me as it was for you."

"What? Wait no, that's not what I'm saying…" Ryoga wasn't even sure if what Nabiki said made sense, but the sexual undertones threw him off completely.

"Do we have everything ready?" Nabiki asked Shiratori, pointedly ignoring Ryoga.

Shiratori nodded, gesturing toward an ordinary looking pot. "Alright Ryoga, give Grandmother Shiratori your finger," Nabiki ordered.

Ryoga extended his finger tentatively. The old woman snatched it, and pricked it with a sewing needle before Ryoga could react. _The old lady is fast_, he thought, _ she isn't all that she seems. _ And then he remembered what they were about to do.

As he watched his blood drip into the water inside the pot followed by a drop of Nabiki's, he wondered just what he was getting himself into.

Nabiki grabbed his left hand, leaving Ryoga to cover himself with his right. Nabiki had her eyes closed as she concentrated. She looked beautiful like that. She took a breath. "Ryoga?" Her hand was thin, and feminine, yet firm. Warm, almost too warm, yet dry, calm.

"Yeah?"

"After this you'll be like the rest, and you won't trust me. Still, for the moment…Thanks."

"Um…okay?" Ryoga wasn't sure he trusted the girl _now_, but he was willing to go with it for the moment.

"Grandmother, some help please?"

Suddenly Ryoga felt a sensation similar to having the wind knocked out of him, except that not only did he have trouble taking a breath, he had trouble forming a complete thought. He didn't have much time to analyze the sensation though, because shortly after that he felt a sensation that was more or less exactly like passing out.

~~~~~Entaro~~~~~

Entaro was sure that the redheaded girl knew. The way she paused for a moment before leaving..no one else had suspected anything, but that red-head knew. Doctor Tofu was examining Entaro's mother. She had been having back problems recently and Grandma always said Tofu was the best. He seemed like a nice doctor. He was very patient with Mom, and even made a few jokes, though he seemed a little sad as well.

Maybe Entaro should talk to him? Halfway deciding to ask, Entaro waited for a good time to interrupt doctor Tofu's chat with Mom, but there didn't seem to be a good time. Mom thanked Tofu and got off of the bench. Doctor Tofu wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it to Mom. Mom holds out her hand for Entaro to grab.

"D..Dr. Tofu!" Entaro asked, eyes clenched shut with the effort.

"Yes?" He bends down, smiling slightly, and Entaro could tell he would understand. More than that he would probably be able to help. But asking him for help would mean letting Mom know.

Entaro looked down. "Nothing."

Mom took Entaro out of the examination room and back into the waiting room where the girl with the long black hair sat.

"Okay, I'm all yours now, Akane," Dr. Tofu said.

Akane gave a surprised chuckle as she stood.

"Oh, before we get started, I've been expecting a call from Ka…from your older sister. Do you know what she's doing?"

Akane shook her head.

Mom pulled on Entaro's hand, not noticing that it was different than before. Not noticing that anything had changed. Not knowing that Entaro was now a girl. After sipping the water from the vial, Entaro had noticed her fingers were different lengths. She hadn't known girls had different fingers before.

"Come on, we don't want to be late for dinner do we?" Mom took Entaro out of Tofu's clinic and into the rain. "Oh no! I forgot to bring an umbrella!" Mom started running through the rain, letting go of Entaro and urging her on when she dragged her heels.

Entaro touched the vial in her pocket. How long would it be before Mom found out?

How long could she hide the fact that she had somehow turned herself into…a girl?

"M…Mom?" She asked once they were both under the awning of a bus stop.

"Yes? Hon?"

But again Entaro didn't know what to say. She knew she _should_ say something. But what? And how? And what if she told her she was a girl and she yelled at her? What if it was permanent and Mom didn't want a girl? Maybe it would all go away on its own. There was a chance this was some sort of dream and Entaro would wake up laughing about it. Entaro checked her fingers. Her pointy finger was still longer than her ring finger. It was supposed to be the other way round.

"Did you hurt your hand?"

"I…" Entaro faltered again. "I love you, Mom."

"Oh, you silly boy!" Mom embraced her. Entaro stiffened. She wasn't a boy anymore, would Mom notice?

But she didn't.

No one had noticed except for the red-headed girl. Maybe Entaro would be able to talk to her. Until then, she'd try to keep her change a secret.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga's father was rarely ever home. His mother only stayed around by keeping the house always in sight and calling a friend to "accompany" her whenever she had to run an errand. For Mom, the curse was barely a problem at all, just an excuse to stay in touch with friends.

It was never much of a problem for Ryoga either, when he was younger. He was usually fine with following other people around who he was pretty sure knew where they were going. All that changed when Ranma showed up. He had never gotten so mad at someone before. The piece of bread that Ranma filched during lunch was just the first of an exponentially expanding litany of annoyances. All of which Ryoga might have been able to ignore, if Ranma hadn't been so damn eager to help all the time.

He would walk with him to his home after school almost everyday, but always with a fresh observation on how completely inane it was that Ryoga couldn't find his way on his own. He wasn't even trying to be insulting, but that just made it that much worse. Soon, not only Ranma, but any helpful people started to rankle Ryoga. He didn't need to be helped. He didn't have a problem. He could handle himself just fine. The challenge with Ranma was supposed to prove that. But the challenge never happened.

So he learned how to handle himself, and he traveled the world, alone.

In all that time that Ranma had been walking him home though, and insulting him, Ryoga did not once suspect that Ranma was a girl. He was physically a boy after all and didn't act girly. Ryoga hadn't known about Jusenkyo back then, so even if he had suspected something he could have never guessed. And yet, when he finally met Ranma after years of searching, it was after cold rain water fell on "Megumi's" head.

Cold water is the curse, not the original body. So Ranma was a girl. And really didn't that make sense? Aren't girls helpful, but irritating? Don't they have a maddening way of getting under one's skin? Ryoga's mother sure had that quality. And he had met one or two other girls like that. As for men, his father had always been a little aloof, and Ranma had been the first and last male friend Ryoga had ever made. Except apparently that didn't count.

Ryoga's mother was a good mom. She asked about Ryoga's day, she gave him advice. One of the irritating things she did was to ask if he had any girlfriends. He'd always blush and say no. There were one or two times, when Ryoga had a crush though, and his mom would get a little serious. "Be careful," she told him, "Make sure she knows about us before you go too far."

Ryoga's mom got the curse from his father. It wasn't after they were married. It wasn't after they had sex. It happened before then. At the end of their first date. As his mother told it, she and Dad kissed, and for a moment their souls seemed to touch. And they must _have_ touched, because after that, Mom had lost her sense of direction. It had been love at first sight for both of them. If either of them hadn't loved the other it wouldn't have worked. There souls were bonded with true love's kiss.

But apparently that wasn't the only way for souls to touch…

Ryoga's eyes snapped open. He sat up and found Nabiki sitting up as well, her jaw slack, an enlarged canine protruding cutely from her upper lip.

"You have got to be shitting me," she said.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

Ranma was cleaning off her last table when she heard one of the other waitresses say "Hey, Red, we're all going for karaoke, to celebrate surviving customergeddon, you want to come?"

Was it wrong that she kind of wanted to? "Uh, sorry, but I've got to check on Akane, make sure she's alright."

"You mean your retarded friend? Ditch the bitch already, girl. She ditched us after all."

It was amazing how in the span of half a second you could go from wanting to go karaoke with someone to wanting to uppercut them into the ceiling. She managed to stifle herself and to just respond with words. "She isn't retarded, and she's not a bitch. She's my friend."

"Whatever. Look, do you want to come or not? "

Ranma regarded the taller girl dispassionately. The offer was still somehow tempting. She could hang out with Riko and Eiko and sing a few songs, maybe try a cigarette while she was at it. She could forget Akane and Mom and Dad and Kumon and all of her other problems and just lose herself in this life of waiting tables and complaining about people.

"No." she said, "I don't want to come."

"Fine," Riko said holding up her hands, "be that way."

"I'll lock up if you want. I need to talk to the boss."

"Nishikigi's gone home already, Red. But thanks for locking up!" With that, Riko left before Ranma could protest. Ranma was going to tell Nishikigi she was quitting. She wasn't even going to bother with a two week notice. But now she'd either have to come back tomorrow or go back to work Wednesday. Why couldn't she have stuck to her guns when she first asked to quit?

She checked on everything that needed checking. The chef had left the gas on again, so she turned that off, and checked Nishikigi's door to make sure he wasn't there. He wasn't. Cursing mildly, Ranma changed into her Chinese outfit, got her things together, locked the door and left the building.

It had stopped raining, but she had the umbrella she borrowed in her school satchel just in case. She paused below the awning. "I just don't want to get wet," she told herself. But shouldn't being a man calm her down? Center her? Wasn't that her birth form? It wasn't like things were any easier as a girl. If she were a man she wouldn't feel the chill of the wind so much for one thing. She shivered, swallowed and moved on. Then why? She yawned. "I should just admit it," she told herself, wearily.

As crappy as she was feeling right now, the last thing she wanted was to have to be a man on top of it. A man would have to go face her family instead of going to the Tendos. A man wouldn't have left Akane even if she was fine on her own, even if he could sense that she would rather be alone. A man would have to be Akane's fiancé, instead of just a friend that loves her. A man couldn't be a waitress or have any other job really, because all a man was supposed to do was follow the art and chase after women.

And maybe men didn't have to do those things. Maybe it was just how Ranma was raised and she could learn to be more than that. But ever since she was able to turn back into her guy form again, crappy things kept happening whenever she did. More than that, she just felt constricted, trapped.

She just wanted to let all of that go.

And suddenly she felt like she couldn't move forward unless she did.

She took two breaths. She yawned again. She looked up at the sky. She stretched, popping the tendons in her shoulders and back. She looked at the ground ahead of her and smirked. "Screw it," she said. "I'm a girl."

There were several frantic moments of panic. How could she say that? How could she disappoint her father and mother? What would she do? What if this was part of Tasuke's curse?

Ranma shrugged. Maybe she'd reconsider it in the morning, but right now she was too tired to care.

She reached the Tendo residence through the main entrance way. The streetlights glinted off the water of the koi pond and the lights inside the main building looked warm and inviting.

Soun, Genma, Nabiki, and Akane were sitting around the dining table, but oddly, Ryoga was there too, and Kasumi wasn't hovering nearby. Ryoga stood as soon as he saw Ranma.

"M-Megumi! You're back!"

"What are you doing here?" Ranma asked reasonably.

"That's kind of a long story," Nabiki said, still sitting down eyeing the food she held in her chopsticks.

"Nabiki and Ryoga are now engaged. Nabiki lost her sense of direction as a result. Your dad had to escort them back here," Akane explained with a slight smile.

"We're not engaged!" Ryoga protested.

"Eh, tomato tomahto," Nabiki allowed. "We're spiritually bonded to each other. He's my familiar. Ryoga's convinced you are a girl by the way. And I can sort of feel what he's feeling so, no pressure, but if you're ever interested in a three way?"

"You think she's a girl too," Ryoga pointed out.

"Yes, well, that's because I've never seen her as a boy. Different thing."

Ranma blinked, trying to take in this torrent of information. She decided to figure it all out later. Turning to Akane she asked, "How are things going?"

"Pretty good," Akane said with a faint smile and shrug. "I cooked."

Ranma looked at the plates on the table. Sakura mochi. It all looked fairly edible. She saw Nabiki actually take a bite. It was a very small bite, but she wasn't spitting it out.

"It took me four hours, but I stuck with it. I didn't get frustrated or distracted like I usually do."

"That's great, Akane!"

"Thanks, Ranma. I couldn't have done it without your help. I just kept remembering all the things you told me, and that helped me through it."

Ranma didn't like the way Akane was saying this. As if she were speaking from far away. And Ranma wasn't sure if it was really a good thing that she missed something so momentous or that it happened while Akane wasn't herself. What did that mean?

Ranma set her things down next to the door way and sat next to Akane. "How was the class tonight?" She asked Soun, wanting to hear something normal.

"It was good. All the students are green so it can be difficult to establish order, but it helped having more people here."

"Why are you a girl, Ranma?" Genma asked, point blank.

"I don't know, Pops, why are you a Panda?" Ranma snapped.

"I'm not a Panda at this moment, Ranma. And you know full well why I'm asking you."

"I just came off work. I have to be a girl there."

Genma continued to stare Ranma down.

"I just didn't feel like changing, okay?"

"It would be extremely easy for you to change…"

Ranma stood up. "Stop trying to make me into something I'm not! I don't feel like a man right now so I don't want to be. That's it. If you don't like that, why don't you go back home to your fake son?"

"Ranma, son, I've been trying to talk with you about that all day. I'm sorry we didn't consult with you first, but Ryu is in a bad situation. He needs some support right now."

"Kumon is just an arrogant prick and he deserves everything bad that happens to him." Ranma was preparing to leave the room, dinner or no dinner.

Genma stood. "Ryu is a very angry, very powerful young man, but he isn't evil…yet. Maybe your mother and I can keep him from going down that road. Maybe you can help us."

"Maybe you can go screw yourself!" Ranma stomped out of the dining room and into her room. She slammed the door, hearing the little wooden placard that Kasumi had made for her clack against the front. Ranma was exhausted. Not just from working all night with the restaurant understaffed thanks to Akane bailing out on her. Not only because one of the few people she knew before the curse now thought of her as a girl. Not only because her father wanted her to be okay with being replaced. Not only because her best friend was missing part of her soul. Not only because she was hearing the voices of dead people telling her to do things. It was also because it was eleven at night and it had been a long, strenuous day.

She stripped to her underwear and flopped onto the bed and fell almost instantly asleep.

She didn't wake up until she heard Akane screaming.

~~~~~Ryoga~~~~~

Ryoga listened to Nabiki breathing above him in her bed. She didn't feel like a fiancée. Neither did she feel like his master. What Ryoga felt when he thought of Nabiki, laying awake on the floor of her room, trying to work out what happened to him in the last twenty-four hours, was a closeness that was more intimate than a sibling's closeness, but not exactly sexual either. It was as if Nabiki were a fraternal twin. He knew her, and she him, as if they had grown up together and yet at the same time they had been apart. He and she both had felt loneliness, and he and she both were somehow glad of their current situation, even though by any practical or logical assessment they were worse off.

Or at least Nabiki was worse off. Ryoga felt that being a familiar _should_ have drawbacks, but he hadn't found any yet. Even his lack of direction was helped by being Nabiki's familiar. Although he still had no idea where he was in relation to his home or anything else, he was always acutely aware now of where he was in relation to Nabiki. Nabiki was above him, and to his left.

Nabiki was sleeping soundly, peacefully. As they had followed a grumbling Genma from Grandmother Shiratori's house, Nabiki seemed to grow happier and happier with her situation, until by the time they were at the Tendo's she was laughing. "What is it?" Ryoga asked

"The knot," she said, "It isn't there anymore."

Ryoga became aware of what she meant as if he were remembering a memory of his own. He remembered Nabiki explaining to Ranma why she did what she did to Akane. Of all the little threads of people's lives that she saw in her mind's eye tangled in a gigantic knot that only she could unravel. That she HAD to unravel or else…

And there wasn't a memory to fill in the blank. Just a feeling of pain, panic, sorrow, and helplessness. Ryoga remembered how angry Nabiki was at Ranma for interfering with the knot, because she didn't know what she was doing. She was messing everything up. But then slowly, the knot became simpler, smaller. Less of an incoherent ball than a snaggle. Whatever Ranma did, just by dumb luck it seemed, made it easier for Nabiki to see the bigger picture, and she began to see Ranma''s thread as inextricable from all the others.

Nabiki had a goal. To save her mother. And even as she told herself she'd kill Ranma if she had to to do it, she began to feel gratitude to the redhead for making it clear what she had to do.

And now, there was no knot. Not even a snaggle. Nabiki could see all the threads, and they were woven together intricately, but they made sense now. They were a tapestry.

"What happened?" Ryoga had asked then. "What changed for you?"

Nabiki smiled, "I have no idea where I am. I had to rely on Uncle Saotome to get me home or you and I could have been lost forever. "

Ryoga didn't like this stark description of their predicament, but he had to admit its accuracy. "So? How does that help you?"

"I'm one of the threads, Ryoga-baby. When I made you my familiar, I didn't just pull you, you pulled me." And somehow that made perfect sense.

At the time. But now, laying on the floor of Nabiki's room, looking at Nabiki's ceiling, Ryoga wasn't sure. Granted, it was all very zen, but Ryoga had always found zen to be devastatingly depressing. Feeling part of some larger cosmic whole was great as far as it went, but at the end of the day it meant you weren't important, that nothing you did mattered, because ultimately you were just part of some larger whole, so why bother?

As Ryoga contemplated Nabiki's vision, he imagined himself and Nabiki and everyone they knew as threads, writhing and squirming against each other, wormlike, each struggling to understand the larger pattern. It was not an image that agreed with him.

He rather preferred it when he was sure his world was Hell and he could blame Ranma for putting him there. Except Ranma didn't exist. There was only ever Megumi. Irritatingly helpful Megumi, who just happened to be a boy when Ryoga first knew her. Even after figuring out that Ranma had some compounded version of the curse, and that she hadn't really been female when Ryoga had known her in junior high, still the notion wouldn't go away. Every maddening quip, every arrogant gesture, was transubstantiated into something beautiful. If Megumi had done those things as a girl, Ryoga would have realized how great she was then. And now, thinking of Megumi as a guy, as Ranma…the idea no longer seemed to fit.

Nabiki, for one, never really saw Ranma as guy, even when she called her "jockstrap girl." And after only two weeks, Ranma was wearing dresses and calling herself Megumi? Saying just a few hours ago that she didn't feel like being a guy? Ryoga hated his pig form. Whenever he was a pig his first thought was almost always how he could get to hot water.

No, Ryoga, concluded. Jusenkyo was just a lucky accident. Ranma had always been Megumi, had always been a girl.

When Ryoga heard the scream, because of the train of his thoughts, he first thought it had been Megumi. He bolted to his feet and out of the door before he was fully aware of what he was doing. Then at the second scream he realized it was Akane. "Little sister!" he cried, confusing Nabiki's feelings for Akane, for his own. The sound wasn't coming from her room, but from the furo downstairs, a fact that Ryoga was only aware of, because when he burst through the door he saw Akane naked in the furo, wide-eyed, with a razor in her hand.

Through gritted teeth she said, "She was going to hurt herself. I had to…get Ranma. Get Ranma!"

But before Ryoga could move Megumi was in the room, wearing only her boxers and a tank top. She pushed Ryoga away violently enough that if Ryoga hadn't braced himself, his head might have cracked the tile on the opposite wall. She kicked the razor out of Akane's hand and jumped into the furo, wrapping her arms around Akane. "I'm here, Akane. I'm not going to let you do this to yourself. I'm here."

Ryoga turned away. The sight of a naked girl being embraced from behind by Megumi was a little too much for his libido to take. He could sense Nabiki descending, coming closer. She would have stopped Akane too. But he had hesitated even though, in the moment, he felt Akane to be as much his sister as Nabiki's.

Ryoga stole a glance to see that Megumi was rocking Akane now. Akane was staring blankly at her hands. Megumi came to Akane's aid right away. Of course she did. Ryoga left the room to give the girls, both of them, some privacy.

"What happened," Megumi asked Akane behind the door, "I thought you were happy. I thought Jusenkyo taking what it took made you all zen and stuff?"

Ryoga chuckled mirthlessly. Sure, it made sense. What did it all matter in the overall scheme of things? But then, the next thought after that is that nothing matters in the overall scheme. And if that's the case, then why should you have to deal with so much pain? If it weren't for his anger, for his mindless quest to find and have his revenge on Ranma, Ryoga would have tried to kill himself so many times. He had certainly thought about it. And now what did he have to focus on? To distract him from the cruelty inherent in existence?

Nabiki put a light hand on Ryoga's shoulder and he lifted his head to see her face, lit by the yellow glow of the light from the furo. "You've got me, Ryoga-baby. Now buck up. We've got to save my mother tomorrow."

Nabiki's eyes focused on the sliding door, and she kept her attention on it until she slid it open and was inside. She was already finding ways around the lack of direction sense. Ryoga had to admit he kind of loved her in that moment. Maybe life was worth living.

At least as long as there was someone to pull his thread.

~~~~~Ranma~~~~~

_She just reacted. She was on autopilot. Knocking the razor out of Akane's hand, jumping in the furo with her, embracing her. It isn't until Nabiki comes in wearing her pajamas, her hair in disarray, that Ranma realizes how strangely she's acting. Strange for a guy. Strange for a stranger on one of many stops on a years-long training mission. Strange for someone who isn't family. Ranma releases Akane awkardly. Almost immediately she puts her arm around her friend again. Not a full embrace, but enough so that there's contact, support. _

"_Akane, are you okay?" Nabiki asks. Her eyes linger on the razor on the floor. "I mean, aside from the obvious? It seems like Megumi is taking care of things but I'm your older sister so I have to ask."_

_Akane sighs, and Ranma can feel the air leave her lungs through her back. "Aside from the obvious, yes, I'm okay."_

_There is the slightest quaver to Akane's voice that says that "the obvious" isn't going to go away anytime soon._

"_You want some tea or something?" Nabiki asks, "I won't be as quick as Kasumi with it, but I think I can figure it out."_

"_I don't want anything right now, Nabiki." Akane's tone makes it seem like she's talking about more than just tea. _

"_Megumi? You need anything? Change of clothes maybe?"_

_Ranma looks down. She's, completely soaked in the furo water. "Maybe a change of clothes," Ranma allows._

_Nabiki nods. Then, staring at the floor she asks, "Is mom__…okay?"_

_Akane takes a breath. "Mom's inside me now. She's the one that screamed. She's trying not to change me too much. Like she changed Ranma." Ranma can hear bitterness in Akane's words. As if she wants to be changed. _

_Nabiki lifts her head frowning at this information. "Can she move back to Ranma?"_

"_No," Akane says. "Ranma has a name or something. She can't stay intact inside her anymore."_

_Nabiki blinks. "Megumi, you're a witch?"_

_It takes Ranma some time to make sense of the question. "Uh__…your mom? She had me perform a ritual, so…maybe? I've got a Name. "_

"_Mom's a witch?" Nabiki shakes her head. "No, nevermind. I should have realized. She wouldn't have been able to survive this long otherwise. Akane, stop trying to__…hurt yourself. Especially with mom in there with you. You need to come with Ryoga and me to the hospital tomorrow, we're going to find a body for mom, okay?"_

_Akane nods her head. _

"_Megumi, I want you ask Kuno to take you and Akane to Jusenkyo. Unless you find some other way to get answers on Akane's condition." Nabiki pauses for a long awkward moment. "Akane?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Just in case you aren't clear on this, I want you to stop thinking that this attitude of yours is okay. You are going to get your soul fragment back from Jusenkyo, and you are going to fight for it, and I don't want to hear that you can't, because fighting for things you believe in is something that's in every fiber of your being, not just in some little fragment of you. You get me?"_

"_If you say so."_

"_No, not because__…" Ranma sees Akane's slight smile after noticing Nabiki's change of expression. Akane is making a joke. "Right. I'll get you that change of clothes, Megumi." Nabiki leaves, focusing on the door and then stalking toward it deliberately before going through it. _

_Ranma is now in the furo with a naked Akane for a reason that is no longer relevant. "So, um__… you want to tell me what happened?"_

"_It's stupid," Akane protests._

"_You just tried to kill yourself. It's not stupid."_

"_Are you saying there's a reasonable and intelligent reason to kill yourself?" Akane asks pointedly. She gets out of the furo and Ranma stands as well. her wet underclothing almost immediately cooling in the air. _

"_Could you put a towel around yourself?" Ranma asks, "I'm probably going to turn into a boy in a moment."_

"_Of course you are. Good for you." Akane wraps a towel around herself anyway despite her bitterness._

Ranma grew taller and manlier in the next moment, glad Akane was covered. "Akane I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Are you going to ask Kuno to take us to Jusenkyo?"

"Yeah. That sounded like a pretty good idea."

"Do you think I could get a curse? Or do you think that because Jusenkyo already cursed me, I'm immune?"

"We'll be very careful, Akane. We might not even have to get close to the springs."

Akane nodded. Her eyes found the razor. In a quick motion, she picked it up.

"Akane, what are you doing!"

"I gave it a good try, you know. Long hair, dresses, talking differently. I followed Kasumi as a model, and even when she turned out to be faking it I still kept trying."

Ranma stepped out of the furo. "Akane, you said you wouldn't try to hurt yourself again. Your mother's in your body too now, remember?"

"I'm not trying to hurt myself!" Akane blinked. "Not now, anyway. I probably wouldn't have hurt myself anyway. I was just thinking about it, and Mom got upset."

"Then give me the razor. You're making me nervous."

"Everyone knew. They called me names in school. Made me play Romeo in the school plays. It took me a year to grow out my hair this long. I became the most popular girl in school. I have friends who hang around me merely because I'm popular. But then there was Kuno's proclamation and of course you showed up."

"I don't know what you're talking about yet, Akane."

"I like being strong, Ranma. I like fighting. And It's not something I'm growing out of or something that I can meld into some kind of feminine mystique like Kasumi has." Akane grabbed her hair and lifted it above her head.

"You're not going to cut your hair are you?"

"Yes. That's what I'm going to do."

"With a straight razor?"

Akane hesitated.

"Akane, I get it, you're a tomboy. One of the things I like about you is that you aren't as prissy as a lot of girls. But for gods' sake at least use a pair of scissors!"

"Ranma, you don't get it. I'm not a tomboy. I'm a boy, and I've just been trapped inside this girl's body for sixteen years."

Ranma sat on the lip of the furo frowning at this. "I don't know, Akane. Most boys I know don't have quite the flair for drama that you do."

"Ranma, I'm serious. I'm a transsexual. It's why I don't find boys or girls attractive. I'd find girls attractive, but I don't have the right equipment. For me it's like some part of me expects something to happen that never does."

"I thought you said you found boys attractive? What about Tofu?"

"I said that, yes. I'm sorry, I was lying. To you and to myself at the time. As for Tofu, that attraction wasn't exactly sexual. I admire him a lot, but there's a difference between admiration and lust. I've tried looking at porn, Ranma. It doesn't do anything for me. Just makes me feel perverted. Or at least it _used_ to, before I got rid of the part of me that cared about that stuff."

"Well, okay, but, well. A girl can just, you know, take it, right?"

"You think I should let someone rape me?"

"It wouldn't be rape if it was consensual would it?"

"It wouldn't be consensual! That's the point! I wouldn't enjoy it."

Ranma stood. "Akane, I…"

Akane looked Ranma over as if seeing him for the first time. It was dark but he could see enough of her expression and the scrutiny was a little… alluring.

"Dammit!" he said, and turned away from his friend, "I _hate _ this freaking body!" His eyes went wide "I mean…"

"Ranma?"

Ranma closed his eyes. There was an irritation behind them. Tears were threatening to come. But he wouldn't let them out because he was in his guy form now. Guys couldn't…"Gods! Damn it all!" he half growled, half gasped.

"Ranma, if you want me to pretend I didn't hear that from you, I can do that. It was just a slip up. It doesn't have to mean anything."

He thought about it for a moment. He felt like he was dangling from a cliff or something, only he wasn't sure whether he should climb back up or take his chances on the fall. "I guess it's better that I have a choice," he said softly. "But it doesn't _feel_ better."

~~~~~Entaro~~~~

In most cases it isn't that easy for a ten-year-old to find someone in Tokyo. Even someone as hard to miss as Ranma Saotome. Entaro had stumbled into this search, though, much as she had stumbled into being a girl.

It started when she ran away from school. The last night and the morning before reaching school had been eerie in how normal they were. She had even forgotten what had happened before she had gone to bed, only to be reminded when she changed into her pajamas. Waking up she'd had breakfast and gone out of the house and she'd gone several blocks before the true magnitude of what she had somehow done to herself hit her. She had gym class today. Even if she managed to avoid changing in front of any of the boys in school, there'd be other ways they could find out. What if someone spilled something on her in the cafeteria? What if Sado kicked her in the groin today before stuffing her in her locker? And all those people…someone would know. Someone would be able to tell. And so instead of going to her school, she kept going.

A block away from her school a police officer had stopped her and asked where she was going. Stories about Ranma had reached her school and needing the name of a high school that might hold a redhead, Entaro remembered them. It wasn't likely that there were two red-headed Japanese girls in the area. The police officer asked her why she was going there. She said she needed to see her "big sister," something which was true enough, because in Japanese any girl who is still fairly young is called a big sister. Satisfied by this, the police officer escorted her the rest of the way to the high school.

When she arrived, classes had already started. She went down the halls, looking from room to room. On the walls was a poster of a round blue arm band. "Know a FuMa member by their blue within blue sashes," it read. Another poster read "Violence is not the answer…except when it is." This one had a picture of redhead and a blue-haired girl standing with arms folded and a blue within blue sash on their arms. The redhead was the one from last night! And the blue-haired girl had been with her. Of course the redhead was Ranma, Entaro realized this on some level, but hadn't quite matched up the celebrity she'd heard about in school with the girl she had seen at Tofu's. Now she was nervous again. Maybe she didn't have to talk to Ranma. Maybe just one of the people with the sashes?

She waited until classes let out. She found a mousy girl with long hair that had a sash on her arm. She seemed approachable, so Entaro tried. "Um…excuse me?"

The girl turned her head, and her approachability seemed to vanish like sunshine behind a cloud. The girl thinned her eyes as she looked down at her. "Why are you here? Why are you wearing a boy's uniform?"

"I'm a…I'm" Entaro wanted to protest that she was a boy, but she knew that wasn't true right now and she always had a terrible time of lying. "How did you?…"

"Your skull is sloped the wrong way for a boy." The girl looked around, "Is your mother or father around?"

"N-no…"

"Do they know you're here?"

Entaro shook her head.

"Okay. I'm going to take you over to the assistant principal's office and you can explain what you're doing here along the way." The girl grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway. "Well?" she asked after they had gone past the doors of two classrooms.

"I…I'm looking for Ranma."

"For help or to issue a challenge?"

"H-help."

The girl stopped abruptly and Entaro stopped with her. "Okay. That's what I thought, but I don't like to assume. My name is Tomo Hoko. I take care of contracts while Tendo Nabiki is away. Before I bring you to our acting leader, I need to know your business."

"I…um…I saw her at Doctor Tofu's? And…"

"Hmm… you're scared of me. Let me try something…" Hoko concentrated for a moment and then smiled widely "You poor thing! WherEVer did you COME from?" She spoke in a high pitched voice that was inflected as if Hoko were talking to a baby…and on psychotropic substances.

Entaro backed away, "It was…um…better before?"

Hoko frowned. "I don't get it. Children are supposed to find higher pitched voices soothing…"

"I need to talk with Ranma about…something. It's…um…personal?"

Hoko nodded. "I don't think you're a secret assassin. I suppose it will be okay. Just let me know one thing. Two things. Let me know two things."

"Yes?"

"What's your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?"

"I don't know?"

Hoko considered this for a moment, then she shook her head, "No that doesn't quite cover it. Let's start with your weakness. That's usually easier."

"I…uh…I'm _afraid_…I…" Entaro had meant to add more but Hoko nodded as if she had answered her..

"That's good enough for now. Now for the strength. What brought you here. Why aren't you sniveling in bed, like a coward?"

"I just…I need to…I need to know…"

"Curiosity! Excellent! That's the best strength there is! If I need information from your school, do you think you could find it out for me?"

"Maybe?"

"Let me rephrase that. I will take you to Ranma, give you my endorsement and, by connection, the protection of FuMa IF you can provide me information about what is going on in your school. Are these acceptable terms?" Hoko held out her hand

"Y-yes." Entaro said and shook the older girl's hand. It was surprisingly warm.

"Now, tell me your name."

"Futamori Entaro," she said.

"A boy's name," Hoko noted, "Interesting. Follow me, Entaro-chan."

Hoko took her to a classroom where Ranma stood talking to two other girls and the black-haired girl from Doctor Tofu's, the one who had blue hair in the poster. "Acting boss Ranma?"

Ranma looked a little irritated. "Yeah?"

"We have some official FuMa business. This kid is named Futamori Entaro. He used to be a boy but got into something she shouldn't have and now he's a girl. She thinks you might be able to help him."

Entaro blinked. "How…?"

Hoko smiled, "When you know transformation curses exist, it becomes the simplest explanation for why you're here." Entaro felt a wave of gratitude. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to get all that out if Hoko hadn't pieced it together.

"Hey you're that kid from Tofu's" Ranma said. "You have a Jusenkyo curse?"

"I don't know," Entaro said. She dug in her pocket for the vial and showed it to Ranma. "I just filled this with water and and drank it."

"What?" Ranma snatched the vial from Entaro's hand. "Why?"

"I don't…"Entaro stammered. C_uriosity._ Hoko had called it a strength. Entaro swallowed. "I wanted to know what would happen."

Ranma regarded her for a moment. Then she shrugged. "Better than my excuse." Entaro must have looked curious, because Ranma elaborated. "Thought I couldn't have a friend unless I was a girl. Turns out it was true. Doesn't make it less stupid, though." Ranma idly reached for a thermos of water and poured it into the plastic cup lid and handed it to Entaro. "Drink it. My guess is it'll cure you. At least if you drank cold water the first time."

Entaro took a sip, felt the change almost immediately. He was a boy again, simple as that.

"I don't think you'll have to worry any more. Tofu said the vial's curse is temporary . I wouldn't mess with this stuff any more though." Ranma held the vial up to her eye. The flourescent lights glinted off its pearlescent surface.

"M…may I h-have it back please?" Entaro asked

Ranma thinned her eyes at him. She smiled slowly, and held it out for him.

"Thanks," he said as he took it.

"I'm serious, kid, don't push your luck. Believe me, one body is more than enough to deal with."

Entaro nodded as he put the vial back in his pocket. "Thank you, big sister Ranma," he said with a deep bow.

"Sure. Don't mention it."

Hoko guided him out of the high school and reminded him about his part of the arrangement before saying goodbye. Entaro was actually looking forward to the mission. He had always wanted a mission.

Entaro's hand gripped the vial as she went back inside. There were so many questions in his mind. In some ways everything had seemed so _normal_ and yet…It hadn't really hit him until now. Magic existed.

He would follow Ranma's advice for a while. He was still scared of what had happened. But he was always the kind of kid who wanted to see how magic tricks worked, and this was the biggest trick he'd ever seen.

~~~~~End of Chapter 16~~~~~

~~~~~A.N.~~~~~

First off thanks as always for the reviews, follows, favorites and whatever other ways you have shown interest. Reviews are still by far my favorite, but the other things make me feel good too.

The rest of this stuff is a little like DVD commentary with spoilers and whatnot so I'm giving you a chance to ignore it…

—ignore this message—

—this space intentionally left blank—

— these are not the droids you're looking for—

—I did not say this; I was not here—

Sorry for the long update time this go round. This chapter had a lot of revelatory stuff though, and as it is I'm only halfway sure that it all makes sense. I love me the hell out of some revelations, but I think I love them a little too much. Akane kind of surprised me. I didn't really want to go where I went, and I'm still not entirely sure if it really fits, but well, I wanted to try to figure out just what her problem really was, because figuring out that stuff is one of the reasons why I enjoy writing, and this is a possibility I haven't seen considered seriously in many fanfics. Many of you might argue that Akane doesn't have a problem, or that Akane's problem is something completely different and how dare I suggest that she…. Fair enough. It's true that I've read a lot of fanfics which have colored my opinion of her, but my main feeling on Akane is that she is a good person, but that she is a person who is trying to be something she isn't almost all the time, and that the struggle she wages against herself tends to drive her a little insane. To me, that's an interesting character, regardless of what it is she's avoiding or what it is she's trying to achieve, or whether or not she actually achieves it. The problem for her relationship with Ranma that I've been having is that at some point anybody that knows Akane would almost have to get a little sick of dealing with her. At that point the other person has to make a choice. Deal with the hassle for the sake of the friendship, or abandon ship. The choice is a little easier for Ranma, because Akane is pretty much his her only friend, but it's still there.

As for the suicide attempt…well, I can't speak for everyone, but I know I've had some dark thoughts a few times and if my mother was in my head at that time there might have been one or two over reactions.

Akane's worser half will get some time in the next chapter. I haven't just forgotten about that.

I might return to Entaro or not. Depends on how things go. I like the character, but he'll have to interact with the main characters again or else most people aren't going to care.

As for everyone, including Ranma, thinking he's a girl, and furthermore that he may have been a girl from the beginning, well, that's another thing I'm not sure about. I kind of wanted at the beginning of the fic for Ranma to be an equal opportunity owner of both halves, but the story is kind of pushing that idea back. I blame Genma. Its kind of become Ranma's way to rebel, but there's a point where something stops being a phase and starts becoming who you are. Ranma has to deal with that. As for Ryoga, you can chalk that up to rationalization if you want. Or you might agree with him. It seems to me that the only thing the bread feud needs is for someone to switch genders and you've got a classic RomCom meet cute. (yaoi fans might not need the gender switch, but I still have to work a little too hard to be okay with that sort of thing).

In my continual struggle to represent Japanese accurately while not actually using Japanese words, I had Akane make reference to "the old way of saying 'we.'" For those of you who are interested this would be "wari wari." More of you are probably aware that "big sister" is "Oneesan" in Japanese, and that it's used similarly to senorita in spanish, referencing any youngish, yet somewhat older female. I have a harder time with cursing. I don't see Ranma as being all that religious, but in the West of course, we've got to stick our gods everywhere. I only know just enough Japanese to get me in trouble, so I'm not sure how often they actually reference gods or spirits, but whenever I watch anime it seems that they don't use "kami" unless it's a Christian character or they're saying a spell or something. At any rate, in case anyone else is as nitpicky as I am about this sort of thing (or worse) just know that Ranma is not evoking spirits or gods in any seriously religious sense here, but just cursing emphatically, and I'm not sure how to represent that without getting needlessly crude or just having him speak Japanese, and I would probably get that wrong, and alienate both the people who just want to read a story in English AND the people who are fluent speakers.

I welcome any criticism on this issue or anything else that niggles your noggin.

One last thing, I'm going to separate Oyu into another book I think. The last chapter might be this one or the next. This chapter kind of has a nice return to the beginning feel, but there are a lot of things unresolved, so I'm going to go ahead and write the next one to see how that goes. Either way, I'm not done with this yet, I just think the focus is about to shift (or has already shifted) away from the original premise and having too many chapters might scare off new readers.


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